Linux use second terminal in minimal iso

Question

I installed CentOS minimal iso, as you know there is only one terminal in opening so I made everything within there but I want to know;

1. Can I open a second terminal window ?
2. I am downloading on this main terminal window, how can I just hide this process and go on typing. (I want it keep downloading at background but I don't want to see process, I want it let terminal free to my use again.)
3. Is there any tricks to manage linuxOS without gui. How can I make it more efficient?
4. I set shared folder in virtual box but can't reach the file /media/.. how can I make it able to share folder with host machine

If I used desktop environment, these wouldn't be any problem, I am able to create with typing ctrl+shift+t but I am using minimal iso centos and there is only one terminal seems to useable.

Answer 1

With a "minimal" install, you have one of several console virtual terminals, which normally you can switch to new/old ones using control/alt followed by a function key.

For instance, controlaltF2 (all three keys pressed at the same time) switches to the second virtual terminal, while controlaltF1 will switch back to the first virtual terminal.

Further reading:

• 7. Console switching (The Linux keyboard and console HOWTO)

Answer 2

1. Thomas Dickey already mentioned the possibility to switch between virtual terminals. In addition to that you can use screen or tmux to manage multiple sessions in a single window.

2. You can start processes in the background by attaching an '&' character like so:
   wget example.com/example.html &
   If the software is already running you can move it to the background with CTRL+Z. You can list processes running in the background with jobs and move them to the foreground with fg <jobid>

3. screen and tmux are great to improve productivity. You may also want to use software with a TUI (text-based user interface) such as midnight commander to manage your files.