Bernina Terminal Cheat Sheet
Shortcuts and Compose sequences set up by startup_bernina_terminal.
Super+F1 shows this as a floating overlay panel (cheatsheet_overlay,
a standalone GTK script -- no gnome-shell extension involved), built
fresh from this file's own headings and tables every time it's shown
(via cheatsheet_to_shortcuts_json). For this full detailed view with
prose/notes included, run cheatsheet in a terminal instead.
Navigation in this viewer: ↑/↓/j/k scroll, g/home top,
G/end bottom, b/pgup and f/pgdn page up/down, /pattern
then n/N to search and jump between matches (e.g. /Greek), q
to quit.
Table of contents
(Links above are for viewing this file in an editor/browser that
supports Markdown anchors, e.g. VS Code or GitHub/GitLab — the
terminal viewer doesn't follow them; use / search instead, see
above.)
Other cheat sheets
In the Super+F1 overlay, the entry below is clickable: it loads and
shows that file in place of this one, with a "← Back" link to return.
The "Search all sheets" checkbox next to the search box instead
searches this sheet and everything linked from it (however deep) all
at once.
| Sheet |
Description |
| Admin & Account Setup |
One-time/occasional account and host setup tasks — gopass onboarding, personal dirs, PSI home-sync |
Application & window shortcuts
| Shortcut |
Action |
Runs |
Alt+Ctrl+J / Super+HomePage |
Open eco terminal |
gnome-terminal -- eco |
HomePage |
Launcher |
launcher |
Alt+Ctrl+B |
Browser |
firefox |
Alt+Ctrl+A |
Aramis synoptic (caqtdm) |
caqtdm ... Aramis.ui |
Alt+Ctrl+S |
SwissFEL OP overview (caqtdm) |
caqtdm ... S_OP_overview_for_photonics.ui |
Alt+Ctrl+T |
New terminal |
gnome-terminal |
Alt+Ctrl+Shift+B |
Browser (alternate account) |
firefox_as |
Alt+Ctrl+Shift+T |
Terminal (alternate account) |
gnome-terminal_as |
Alt+Ctrl+Shift+W |
Windows terminal |
winterm |
Super+F1 |
This cheat sheet (overlay panel) |
cheatsheet_overlay |
Print |
Screenshot (Flameshot) |
flameshot gui |
Ctrl+Alt+D |
Blank/turn off screens |
xset dpms force off |
The Calculator, Email, Home, Screenshot and Help media-key defaults
are explicitly unbound at login so they're free for the reassignments
above and below (they'd otherwise launch a calculator app, GNOME
Help, etc. — Super+F1 is normally GNOME's built-in Help shortcut).
Primary controls terminal only
Only wired up on saresb-cons-03/04/05/08/09/10; other hosts print
"no primary controls terminal" and skip this block.
| Shortcut |
Action |
Runs |
Calculator |
Stop FEL |
feloff |
Super+Calculator |
Start/open FEL |
felon |
Mail |
Stop laser |
laseroff |
Super+Mail |
Start/open laser |
laseron |
Window tiling (gTile)
gTile is served from the shared /sf/bernina/applications tree (via
XDG_DATA_DIRS, set up once per account by this script) rather than
copied per-account, so it's always present without an install step.
Super+Enter/Super+Return (gTile's own default, not set by this
script) opens the grid overlay for manual selection; the two preset
sets below give one-key shortcuts straight to a specific shape,
tuned for 4K screens.
| Shortcut |
Action |
Super+Enter (Super+Return also works) |
Open the gTile grid overlay for manual selection |
Super+Shift+KP_1 … KP_9 |
Numpad preset set: cycle through 9 column-width presets (repeated presses of the same key step through that preset's shapes) |
Super+Shift+7/8/9/0, u/i/o/p, j/k/l/;, m/,/.// |
Right-hand-block preset set: a 4x4 grid laid out to spatially match the keyboard (top row of keys → top row of screen quarters, and so on); each key cycles its exact cell → 2x2 quadrant → half-screen → full-screen on repeated presses |
Window tiling (Tactile)
Tactile is a second, simpler grid-tiling extension alongside gTile,
served the same way (shared tree + XDG_DATA_DIRS). Unlike gTile's
presets above, its tile keys are only active while the grid overlay
is showing — press Super+T first, then a tile key (or two, to span
a region).
| Shortcut |
Action |
Super+T |
Show the tile grid (a 4x4 grid, customized from Tactile's own smaller default) |
Escape |
Hide the grid without moving anything |
7/8/9/0, u/i/o/p, j/k/l/;, m/,/.// (while the grid is showing) |
Select a tile — press one to move the active window there, or two different ones to span that region (same key twice also works) |
1/2/3/4 (while the grid is showing) |
Switch to one of Tactile's 4 stored layouts — not usually needed, since every monitor already defaults to layout 4 (the customized 4x4 grid) |
The tile keys use the same spatial layout as gTile's right-hand-block
preset set above (top row of keys → top row of screen quarters, etc.),
so the two extensions' shortcuts line up with each other.
Compose key — accents & Greek letters
Compose key = Caps Lock. Press Caps Lock, then the sequence below
(Greek letters work in either order: Space, letter or letter, Space).
Greek letters — CapsLock Space <letter>
| Key |
Lower |
Name |
Upper |
Key |
Lower |
Name |
Upper |
| a |
α |
alpha |
Α |
n |
ν |
nu |
Ν |
| b |
β |
beta |
Β |
o |
ο |
omicron |
Ο |
| c |
ξ |
xi |
Ξ |
p |
π |
pi |
Π |
| d |
δ |
delta |
Δ |
q |
ψ |
psi |
Ψ |
| e |
ε |
epsilon |
Ε |
r |
ρ |
rho |
Ρ |
| f |
φ |
phi |
Φ |
s |
σ |
sigma |
Σ |
| g |
γ |
gamma |
Γ |
t |
τ |
tau |
Τ |
| h |
θ |
theta |
Θ |
u |
υ |
upsilon |
Υ |
| i |
ι |
iota |
Ι |
v |
ς |
final sigma |
— |
| k |
κ |
kappa |
Κ |
w |
ω |
omega |
Ω |
| l |
λ |
lambda |
Λ |
x |
χ |
chi |
Χ |
| m |
μ |
mu |
Μ |
y |
η |
eta |
Η |
|
|
|
|
z |
ζ |
zeta |
Ζ |
Letters were reassigned where the Greek name collides with another
letter already taken: h=theta, y=eta, c=xi, x=chi, q=psi,
w=omega, v=final sigma.
A few useful built-in sequences (system default Compose file)
| Sequence |
Result |
Meaning |
CapsLock ' e |
é |
acute accent |
CapsLock grave e |
è |
grave accent |
CapsLock " u |
ü |
diaeresis / umlaut |
CapsLock ~ n |
ñ |
tilde |
CapsLock , c |
ç |
cedilla |
CapsLock o c |
© |
copyright |
CapsLock o r |
® |
registered |
CapsLock C = |
€ |
Euro sign |
CapsLock m u |
µ |
micro sign |
CapsLock s o |
§ |
section sign |
CapsLock o o |
° |
degree sign |
~/.XCompose is rewritten on every login (so it self-heals if
missing or accidentally edited); defaults come from
/usr/share/X11/locale/en_US.UTF-8/Compose.
Screen & session behavior
- Desktop background, terminal profile, and workspace-on-primary-only
are set on every login.
- Screen lock: enabled with a 180s delay only on
saresb-cons-08;
disabled (and idle-delay set to never) everywhere else.
- The Kerberos ticket (
gac-bernina) is kept alive in the background
for the session (kerberos_ticket_renew).
- The local pixi Python env in
~/bpy is kept in sync with the
shared env in the background (pixi_local_sync).
Scripts in this directory
Every script in /sf/bernina/bin, grouped by topic. Generated by list_bin_commands from the actual directory contents -- re-run it after adding/removing scripts to keep this in sync.
Cheat sheet & help
| Command |
Description |
cheatsheet |
Show this cheat sheet in a terminal (glow + less, full detail) |
cheatsheet_overlay |
Show this cheat sheet as a floating overlay panel (bound to Super+F1) |
cheatsheet_to_shortcuts_json |
Regenerate the overlay's JSON from this file's headings/tables |
check_kerberos_renewal |
Diagnose why the Kerberos ticket renewer might be renewing/prompting too often |
useful_commands |
Show the older, plain-text useful-commands reference |
EPICS / eco environment
| Command |
Description |
eco |
Start eco, the beamline's Python control environment |
eco-dev |
Start eco from the development checkout (symlink into the eco repo) |
eco-dev-pull-new-version |
git pull the shared eco checkout in /sf/bernina/code/gac-bernina/eco |
eco-status-server |
Start/stop/check the eco status server (namespace mode) |
eco-status-server-install-user-service |
Install the eco status server as a systemd --user service |
Python, conda & pixi environments
| Command |
Description |
anaconda_bernina_env.sh |
Conda init hook for the bernina anaconda env (source this) |
anaconda_env.sh |
Activate a named anaconda environment |
anaconda_manual |
Show the anaconda environment manual (rendered markdown) |
anaconda_testenv |
Activate the anaconda test environment |
bpy |
Activate a named bpy (pixi) environment |
bpy-env.sh |
Activate the Bernina pixi Python env -- local per-host mirror if in sync, else shared (source this) |
bpy-select |
Interactively pick/switch the active bpy pixi environment |
create-python-install |
Install the bernina pixi env into a pgroup work folder and show it in JupyterHub |
micromamba |
micromamba package manager |
mm_bernina.sh |
Micromamba shell-init hook for bernina (source this) |
mm_bernina_env |
Activate a named micromamba environment |
pixi |
pixi package manager |
pixi_local_sync |
Keep the local per-host pixi env mirror in sync (runs in background at login) |
pixi_rebuild_local |
Rebuild the bernina pixi env in an isolated local sandbox, for testing |
Jupyter & notebooks
| Command |
Description |
bernina-jupyter |
Start JupyterLab in the bernina-scripts config dir (bpy env) |
ipylab |
Start an ipylab session in a chosen anaconda environment |
jupyter-notebook-on-ra |
Open a Jupyter Notebook on a remote-access host, for a given user |
jupyterlab-on-ra |
Open JupyterLab on a remote-access host, for a given user |
Browsers
| Command |
Description |
chrome |
Open Chrome with a per-host profile |
chromeAs |
Open another user's Chrome profile from your own desktop (older variant) |
chrome_as |
Open another user's Chrome profile from your own desktop |
firefox |
Open Firefox with a per-host profile |
firefox-create-hostprofile |
Create a fresh per-host Firefox profile |
firefox-hostprofile |
Open Firefox with the per-host profile (alt entrypoint) |
firefox_as |
Open another user's default Firefox profile from your own desktop |
firefox_default |
Default Firefox profile launcher (symlink to firefox_shared_profile) |
firefox_shared_profile |
Open Firefox using a shared/synced profile |
google-chrome |
Open Chrome with a per-host profile (alt entrypoint) |
Displays & control panels
| Command |
Description |
Aramis |
Open the Aramis overview display (mydm/medm) |
alarms_caqtdm |
Open the EPICS alarms caQtDM panel |
aramis-home |
Open the Aramis photonics overview caQtDM panel |
bernina-home |
Open the esbMaster caQtDM panel |
cams_sf |
Open the SwissFEL cameras caQtDM panel |
diffractometer-config |
Open the diffractometer motor IOC configuration tool |
motion-home |
Open the ZamofingMaster motion caQtDM panel |
screen_panel |
Open the SF controls screen panel |
screenpanel |
Open the screen panel (uses screenpanel-sf if available) |
sf_archiver_panel |
Open the SwissFEL archiver viewer panel |
strip_chart |
Open the PShell strip chart viewer |
swissfelStatus |
Open the SwissFEL OP overview caQtDM panel |
thc_angles |
Open the THC angles bokeh app in Firefox |
thc_stripchart |
Open the THC temperature strip chart |
timetool_online_plot |
Open the timetool online plot (voila notebook) |
Cameras
| Command |
Description |
bernina-cam-mobile1 |
View the mobile1 camera feed (VLC) |
bernina-cam-n |
View the north camera feed (VLC) |
bernina-cam-s |
View the south camera feed (VLC) |
bernina-cam-w |
View the west camera feed (VLC) |
bernina-cam-wideangle1 |
View wide-angle camera 1 feed (VLC) |
bernina-cam-wideangle2 |
View wide-angle camera 2 feed (VLC) |
bernina-cam-wideangle3 |
View wide-angle camera 3 feed (VLC) |
bernina-cam-wideangle4 |
View wide-angle camera 4 feed (VLC) |
bernina-cams-fix |
Launch the fixed multi-camera mosaic view (VLC) |
monitoring_cameras |
Open the monitoring cameras panel (pshell-based) |
record_camera |
Record a camera feed to file |
FEL & laser control
| Command |
Description |
feloff |
Stop/block the FEL beam and announce it |
felon |
Open/enable the FEL beam and announce it |
laseroff |
Block the laser shutter and announce it |
laseron |
Open the laser shutter and announce it |
pshell & robot control
| Command |
Description |
pshell_be |
Start the PShell Workbench for the main Bernina beamline environment |
pshell_correlation |
Open the correlation panel |
pshell_default |
Default pshell entrypoint (symlink to pshell_be) |
robot_server |
Start the PShell Workbench for the Bernina robot -- needs a new binary, /opt/gfa/pshell is gone (see chat history: /sf/controls/bin/pshell -wb is the likely replacement, blocked on a dataFormat=null config issue) |
Desktop & window management
| Command |
Description |
code |
Launch VS Code |
darkscreens |
Blank/turn off the screens (xset dpms) |
flameshot |
Take a screenshot |
gnome-terminal_as |
Open a GNOME Terminal as another user |
launcher |
Main Bernina application launcher |
launcher-editor |
Edit the Bernina launcher in your own copy (~/launcher_config), preview it (F5) and publish it live; --live views the deployed one read-only |
launcher_lca |
Open the launcher on the machine/LCA network, for a given user |
launcher_legacy |
Legacy application launcher (python 3.5 environment) |
rdpWater |
RDP into the WaterLab Windows machine |
remoteDesktop |
RDP into an arbitrary PSI Windows host |
sf-launcher |
Open the launcher on the sf network, for a given user |
termAs |
Open a terminal as another user |
terminalAs |
Open a terminal as another user (alt entrypoint) |
window_arrange.py |
Arrange/tile windows helper script |
winterm |
Open a Windows-side terminal session |
Applications & viewers
| Command |
Description |
hdfview |
Open HDFView (HDF5 file viewer) |
jungfrau_console |
Open the Jungfrau detector console |
ncdu |
Disk usage analyzer |
paraview |
Open ParaView |
pycharm |
Open PyCharm Community |
pylote |
Open Pylote |
vesta |
Open VESTA (crystal structure viewer) |
Login session & keybinding setup
| Command |
Description |
create-links-in-home |
Force-apply PSI's Partially Shared Home symlinks now |
gogh |
Gogh terminal color-scheme installer (legacy -- upstream download is broken, see install_terminal_profiles) |
install_terminal_profiles |
Install Solarized/Spacedust GNOME Terminal profiles, set Spacedust default (runs at login) |
kerberos_ticket_renew |
Keep the Kerberos ticket cache alive for the login session (runs in background) |
migrate_to_network_drive |
Move a local dotfile onto PSI's Partially Shared Home and register it for sync |
refresh_home_links |
Like create-links-in-home, but first clears local files that block the links (shows a diff, then delete or copy back) |
set_gnome_keyboard_shortcut |
Register one GNOME custom keyboard shortcut (used by startup_bernina_terminal) |
setup-network-drives |
Mount ~/network_drives (PSI home etc.) now, running kinit first if needed -- run this first when gopass/shared Firefox profile/home links fail (link to PSI's /usr/local/bin/setup-network-drives) |
startup_bernina_terminal |
Full per-login setup for a Bernina console -- runs automatically at login |
sync_personal_config |
Seed .ipython/.condarc onto PSI's Partially Shared Home for cross-host sync |
gopass secrets & git
| Command |
Description |
git-push |
git push, forcing the origin remote to SSH first |
gopass |
Bernina gopass secrets store CLI |
gopass.py |
Minimal Python interface to the Bernina gopass store |
gopass_bernina_service_setup |
One-shot setup: give a service account (gac-bernina) access to the gopass store |
gopass_bernina_setup |
One-shot onboarding for a human PSI account joining the gopass store |
Personal dirs & data
| Command |
Description |
create_data_symlinks |
(Re)create the ~/bernina_data convenience symlink |
create_personal_dir |
Create/verify a personal working directory under /sf/bernina/config/personal/ (your username) |
name2pgroups |
Look up p-group(s) for a given user name |
pgroup2name |
Look up the user name for a given p-group |
quotas-bernina |
Show Bernina's storage quota usage |
Beamline status & monitoring
| Command |
Description |
chiller_flowrate |
Query the JF16 chiller flowrate over telnet |
feedbacks_bernina |
Open the undulator/feedbacks control tool, for a given user |
get_bernina_PVs_alive |
Check whether a set of Bernina PVs are alive |
go2daq |
SSH to the SwissFEL DAQ host (sf-daq-3) |
ioc-control-bernina |
Open the IOC process monitor (PBMonitor) |
ioc-finder |
Find/locate an EPICS IOC |
is_control |
Check whether a given hostname is a primary controls terminal |
phonebook |
Show the Bernina phone list |
remaining-slurm-job-time |
Show remaining time for a SLURM job |
restart_service |
Restart a systemd service as the dbe account (sudo) |
run-and-position.py |
Run-and-position helper script |
saythis |
Speak given text aloud |
set_bs_pvs |
Configure the SLAAR21 beam-synchronous PVs |
slurm_resources |
Show SLURM partition resource usage |
undulator-pointing |
Open the undulator pointing control tool, for a given user |
Desktop entries (.desktop files)
| Command |
Description |
Bernina.desktop |
Bernina launcher desktop icon (runs launcher) |
bernifox.desktop |
Bernina-branded Firefox launcher (per-host profile), set as default browser |
kerberos-ticket-renew.desktop |
Autostart entry for the Kerberos ticket renewer |
