An poorly designed highlight set can result in a chaotic "Christmas tree effect," where too many competing colors cause more distraction than clarity. Follow these design principles for maximum efficiency:
To see your colors in action, you must assign the set to your current session or set it as a global default.
Setting up your first highlight set takes less than two minutes. Follow these step-by-step instructions. Step 1: Open the Highlight Settings Launch XShell. Navigate to the top menu and select > Highlight Sets . A dialog box will appear showing your existing sets. Step 2: Create a New Set Click the New button on the right side of the dialog box.
Simple keyword matching works well for static text, but dynamic data—such as IP addresses, timestamps, and URLs—requires a flexible approach. Xshell allows you to use Regular Expressions (Regex) within your Highlight Sets. To use Regex: Open your Highlight Set for editing. Click . Check the box labeled Regular Expression . Input your pattern into the Keyword field. Essential Regex Patterns for System Administrators Target Data Type Regex Pattern Recommended Style IPv4 Addresses \b(?:[0-9]1,3\.)3[0-9]1,3\b Timestamps (HH:MM:SS) \b\d2:\d2:\d2\b Dim Gray Text HTTP 2xx (Success) \b20[0-6]\b Bright Green Text HTTP 4xx/5xx (Errors) \b[45]\d2\b Red Text / Yellow Background MAC Addresses ([0-9A-Fa-f]2[:-])5([0-9A-Fa-f]2) Magenta Text Best Practices for Terminal Color Coordination xshell highlight sets
: Match your visual indicators to specific application frameworks, programming languages, or deployment environments. How to Create and Manage Highlight Sets in Xshell
\b(http(s)?://[A-Za-z0-9_./&?=-]+)
: Once a set is created, you must apply it to your session via the Highlight Sets Dialog or the session properties to see the changes in real-time. Helpful Highlight Examples An poorly designed highlight set can result in
Right-click on your Xshell session tab or go to , then navigate to Terminal > Highlight Sets .
Xshell provides several ways to make highlighted text stand out. In the Keyword dialog box, you can configure:
: Create regex patterns for IPv4/IPv6 addresses , MAC addresses , or URLs to make them stand out in command outputs like ifconfig or nmap . Follow these step-by-step instructions
Xshell highlight sets are a powerful terminal automation feature that allows users to define custom visual cues for specific text strings or patterns within their terminal output. By creating these sets, you can automatically emphasize critical information—such as "ERROR" messages, specific IP addresses, or status codes—using distinct colors and font styles.
You can create your own Highlight Sets by preparing a .hls file: