Auto-log everything you see in every terminal tab on Kali/Linux using script(1)
. Captures prompt, commands, output, ANSI colors, and ncurses apps with optional timing/replay, tmux per-pane logs, logrotate, and rclone cloud sync.
Recommended:
pipx install kautolog
kautolog install
This will:
- Hook into both
~/.bashrc
and~/.zshrc
for Zsh and Bash auto-logging. - Install kautolog-replay script into
~/.local/bin
.
Flag | Default | Description |
---|---|---|
--logdir PATH |
~/terminal-logs |
Custom log output directory |
--with-tmux |
False |
Add autologging to ~/.tmux.conf |
--with-logrotate / --no-logrotate |
True |
Install user-level logrotate config |
--with-sync remote:path |
(none) | Enable rclone sync (e.g. gdrive:kautolog-logs ) |
--interval N |
10 |
Sync interval in minutes for systemd timer |
To replay a session with timing:
kautolog replay ~/terminal-logs/2025/08/10/kali-33608-203123
To instantly dump the log without delay:
kautolog replay -i ~/terminal-logs/2025/08/10/kali-33608-203123
Flag / Arg | Description | Notes |
---|---|---|
<log_base> |
Path to .log file or base name (no extension) |
Required |
-i |
Instant dump (no timing) | Just prints the .log file |
-d <num> |
Speed divisor (multiplier) | -d 2 = 2× faster, -d 10 = 10× faster, -d 0.5 = 2× slower |
-m <secs> , --maxdelay <secs> |
Maximum delay between lines | Clamps long pauses (e.g. -m 0.1 ) |
--target <secs> |
Normalize total replay to target duration | Auto-computes divisor; also sets --maxdelay 0.12 if not provided |
Logs are saved to:
~/terminal-logs/YYYY/MM/DD/hostname-PID-TIMESTAMP.log
~/terminal-logs/YYYY/MM/DD/hostname-PID-TIMESTAMP.timing
If --with-tmux
is used, each tmux pane logs independently.
By default, kautolog install
places a logrotate config at:
~/.config/logrotate.d/terminal-logs
Most systems do not run logrotate from this location.
To enable automatic log cleanup, copy it to the system logrotate directory:
sudo cp ~/.config/logrotate.d/terminal-logs /etc/logrotate.d/terminal-logs
This will:
- Rotate logs daily
- Keep 14 days of logs
- Compress old logs
- Prevent unlimited disk usage
kautolog uninstall
Removes all shell hooks and scripts cleanly.
If you installed using pipx:
pipx uninstall kautolog
The scripts and documentation in this project are released under the MIT License