CODEWITHSUNDEEP
linuxconsoletty
user175104
user175104

Reputation: 3696

clear scrollback buffer of Linux Virtual Console Terminals

I'd like to clear the scrollback buffer on Linux console VTs programmatically. i.e. not just clear the current visible screen, but the entire scrollback buffer, too. I.e. everything that after a clear screen would still be visible with Alt-PgUp should be gone too. Anybody got an idea how to achieve that in nice code?

Upvotes: 6

Views: 7044

Answers (3)

ctrl-alt-delor
ctrl-alt-delor

Reputation: 7745

This clears the screen, but not the scrollback.

echo -e '\0033\0143' #depends on the terminal emulator you are using, tested on gnome terminal

from https://superuser.com/questions/122911/bash-reset-and-clear-commands

Upvotes: -1

ninjalj
ninjalj

Reputation: 43688

I don't think this is in mainline yet, but linux-next has a patch to support a new console escape sequence that clears the screen and the scrollback buffer: CSI 3 J

For something that works without having to upgrade your kernel, you can use:

chvt 42; chvt <current tty no>; echo -en "\e[1;1H\e[2J"

Alternatively:

echo -e "\e[12;42]"; sleep .01; echo -en "\e[12;<current tty no>]\e[1;1H\e[2J"

You can get the current tty number with:

$( ls -l /proc/self/fd | sed -ne 's/.*tty//p' )

Upvotes: 6

Mr47
Mr47

Reputation: 2655

Keep in mind that other tools (over ssh for example) will have differing implementations of the "scrollback buffer". I highly doubt that you can clean the putty buffer by code in your machine. Also see https://superuser.com/questions/122911/bash-reset-and-clear-commands

Upvotes: 1

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