tio is a serial device tool which features a straightforward command-line and configuration file interface to easily connect to serial TTY devices for basic I/O operations.
To make a simpler serial device tool for talking with serial TTY devices with less focus on classic terminal/modem features and more focus on the needs of embedded developers and hackers.
tio was originally created as an alternative to screen for connecting to serial devices when used in combination with tmux.
- Easily connect to serial TTY devices
- Automatic connect and reconnect
- Sensible defaults (115200 8n1)
- Support for non-standard baud rates
- Support for mark and space parity
- X-modem (1K/CRC) and Y-modem file upload
- Support for RS-485 mode
- List available serial devices by ID
- Show RX/TX statistics
- Toggle serial lines
- Pulse serial lines with configurable pulse duration
- Local echo support
- Remapping of characters (nl, cr-nl, bs, lowercase to uppercase, etc.)
- Switchable independent input and output mode (normal vs hex)
- Timestamp support
- Per line in normal output mode
- Output timeout timestamps in hex output mode
- Support for delayed output
- Per character
- Per line
- Log to file with automatic or manual naming of log file
- Configuration file support
- Activate sub-configurations by name or pattern
- Redirect I/O to UNIX socket or IPv4/v6 network socket for scripting or TTY sharing
- Pipe input and/or output
- Bash completion on options, serial device names, and sub-configuration names
- Configurable text color
- Visual or audible alert on connect/disconnect
- Remapping of prefix key
- Support NO_COLOR env variable as per no-color.org
- Lua scripting support for automation
- Run script manually or automatically at connect once/always/never
- Simple expect/send like functionality with support for regular expressions
- Manipulate port control lines (useful for microcontroller reset/boot etc.)
- Send files via x/y-modem protocol
- Man page documentation
- Plays nicely with tmux
For more usage details please see the man page documentation here.
The command-line interface is straightforward as reflected in the output from 'tio --help':
Usage: tio [<options>] <tty-device|sub-config>
Connect to TTY device directly or via sub-configuration.
Options:
-b, --baudrate <bps> Baud rate (default: 115200)
-d, --databits 5|6|7|8 Data bits (default: 8)
-f, --flow hard|soft|none Flow control (default: none)
-s, --stopbits 1|2 Stop bits (default: 1)
-p, --parity odd|even|none|mark|space Parity (default: none)
-o, --output-delay <ms> Output character delay (default: 0)
-O, --output-line-delay <ms> Output line delay (default: 0)
--line-pulse-duration <duration> Set line pulse duration
-n, --no-autoconnect Disable automatic connect
-e, --local-echo Enable local echo
--input-mode normal|hex|line Select input mode (default: normal)
--output-mode normal|hex Select output mode (default: normal)
-t, --timestamp Enable line timestamp
--timestamp-format <format> Set timestamp format (default: 24hour)
--timestamp-timeout <ms> Set timestamp timeout (default: 200)
-L, --list-devices List available serial devices by ID
-l, --log Enable log to file
--log-file <filename> Set log filename
--log-directory <path> Set log directory path for automatic named logs
--log-append Append to log file
--log-strip Strip control characters and escape sequences
-m, --map <flags> Map characters
-c, --color 0..255|bold|none|list Colorize tio text (default: bold)
-S, --socket <socket> Redirect I/O to socket
--rs-485 Enable RS-485 mode
--rs-485-config <config> Set RS-485 configuration
--alert bell|blink|none Alert on connect/disconnect (default: none)
--mute Mute tio
--script <string> Run script from string
--script-file <filename> Run script from file
--script-run once|always|never Run script on connect (default: always)
-v, --version Display version
-h, --help Display help
Options and sub-configurations may be set via configuration file.
See the man page for more details.
By default tio automatically connects to the provided TTY device if present.
If the device is not present, it will wait for it to appear and then connect.
If the connection is lost (eg. device is unplugged), it will wait for the
device to reappear and then reconnect. However, if the --no-autoconnect
option is provided, tio will exit if the device is not present or an
established connection is lost.
tio features full bash autocompletion.
Typical use is without options:
$ tio /dev/ttyUSB0
Which corresponds to the commonly used default options:
$ tio --baudrate 115200 --databits 8 --flow none --stopbits 1 --parity none /dev/ttyUSB0
It is recommended to connect serial TTY devices by ID:
$ tio /dev/serial/by-id/usb-FTDI_TTL232R-3V3_FTGQVXBL-if00-port0
Using serial devices by ID ensures that tio automatically reconnects to the correct serial device if it is disconnected and then reconnected.
List available serial devices by ID:
$ tio --list-devices
Note: One can also use tio shell completion on /dev which will automatically list all available serial TTY devices.
Log to file with autogenerated filename:
$ tio --log /dev/ttyUSB0
Enable ISO8601 timestamps per line:
$ tio --timestamp --timestamp-format iso8601 /dev/ttyUSB0
Redirect I/O to IPv4 network socket on port 4242:
$ tio --socket inet:4242 /dev/ttyUSB0
Pipe data to the serial device:
$ cat data.bin | tio /dev/ttyUSB0
Pipe command to serial device and wait for line response within 1 second:
$ echo "*IDN?" | tio /dev/ttyACM0 --script "expect('\r\n', 1000)" --mute
KORAD KD3305P V4.2 SN:32475045
Various in session key commands are supported. When tio is started, press ctrl-t ? to list the available key commands.
[15:02:53.269] Key commands:
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t ? List available key commands
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t b Send break
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t c Show configuration
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t e Toggle local echo mode
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t f Toggle log to file
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t F Flush data I/O buffers
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t g Toggle serial port line
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t i Toggle input mode
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t l Clear screen
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t L Show line states
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t m Toggle MSB to LSB bit order
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t o Toggle output mode
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t p Pulse serial port line
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t q Quit
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t r Run script
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t s Show statistics
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t t Toggle line timestamp mode
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t U Toggle conversion to uppercase on output
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t v Show version
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t x Send file via Xmodem
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t y Send file via Ymodem
[15:02:53.269] ctrl-t ctrl-t Send ctrl-t character
If needed, the prefix key (ctrl-t) can be remapped via configuration file.
Tio suppots Lua scripting to easily automate interaction with the tty device.
In addition to the Lua API tio makes the following functions available:
expect(string, timeout)
Expect string - waits for string to match or timeout before continueing.
Supports regular expressions. Special characters must be escaped with '\\'.
Timeout is in milliseconds, defaults to 0 meaning it will wait forever.
send(string)
Send string.
modem_send(file, protocol)
Send file using x/y-modem protocol.
Protocol can be any of XMODEM_1K, XMODEM_CRC, YMODEM.
exit(code)
Exit with code.
high(line)
Set tty line high.
low(line)
Set tty line low.
toggle(line)
Toggle the tty line.
sleep(seconds)
Sleep for seconds.
msleep(ms)
Sleep for milliseconds.
config_high(line)
Set tty line state configuration to high.
config_low(line)
Set tty line state configuration to low.
apply_config()
Apply tty line state configuration.
Using the line state configuration API instead of high()/low() will
help to make the lines physically switch as simultaneously as possible.
This may solve timing issues on some platforms.
Note: Line can be any of DTR, RTS, CTS, DSR, CD, RI
Options can be set via the configuration file first found in any of the following locations in the order listed:
- $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/tio/config
- $HOME/.config/tio/config
- $HOME/.tioconfig
The configuration file supports sub-configurations using named sections which can be activated via the command-line by name or pattern. A sub-configuration specifies which TTY device to connect to and other options.
Example configuration file:
# Defaults
baudrate = 9600
databits = 8
parity = none
stopbits = 1
color = 10
[rpi3]
device = /dev/serial/by-id/usb-FTDI_TTL232R-3V3_FTGQVXBL-if00-port0
baudrate = 115200
no-autoconnect = enable
log = enable
log-file = rpi3.log
line-pulse-duration = DTR=200,RTS=150
color = 11
[svf2]
device = /dev/ttyUSB0
script = expect("login: "); send("root\n"); expect("Password: "); send("root\n")
color = 12
[esp32]
device = /dev/serial/by-id/usb-0403_6014-if00-port0
script = high(DTR); low(RTS); msleep(100); low(DTR); high(RTS); msleep(100); low(RTS)
script-run = once
color = 13
[usb devices]
pattern = usb([0-9]*)
device = /dev/ttyUSB%s
color = 14
To use a specific sub-configuration by name simply start tio like so:
$ tio rpi3
Or by pattern match:
$ tio usb12
Another more elaborate configuration file example is available here.
Packages for various GNU/Linux distributions are available. Please consult your package manager tool to find and install tio.
If you would like to see tio included in your favorite distribution, please reach out to its package maintainers team.
Install latest stable version:
$ snap install tio --classic
Note: Classic confinement is currently required due to limitations of the snapcraft framework. See Issue #187 for discussion.
If you have brew installed:
$ brew install tio
If you have MSYS2 installed:
$ pacman -S tio
The latest source releases can be found here.
Install steps:
$ meson setup build
$ meson compile -C build
$ meson install -C build
See meson_options.txt for tio specific build options.
Note: The meson install steps may differ depending on your specific system.
Getting permission access errors trying to open your serial device?
Add your user to the group which allows serial device access. For example, to add your user to the 'dialout' group do:
$ sudo usermod -a -G dialout <username>
This is an open source project - all contributions (bug reports, code, doc, ideas, etc.) are welcome.
Please use the github issue tracker and pull request features.
Also, if you find this free open source software useful please feel free to consider making a donation of your choice:
Submit bug reports via GitHub: https://github.com/tio/tio/issues
Visit tio.github.io
tio is GPLv2+. See LICENSE file for more details.
Maintained by Martin Lund <[email protected]>
See the AUTHORS file for full list of contributors.
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