GNU SCREEN ----- awwww yeahhh!

Commands from Terminal:

screen -S <name of screen>  # start new screen
screen -ls                  # list current screens
screen -D -RR               # reattach here and now
screen -r <pid from screen -ls command>   # reattach to screen by pid

Commands in screen:

C-a = Control + a

C-a c     # Create a new window
C-a A     # Rename the current window
C-a k     # Kill a window
C-a C-a   # Go back to the window you were previously in
C-a n     # Go to next window
C-a p     # Go to previous window
C-a a     # Go to start of command line

C-a :number <number>  # Move current window to index <number>
C-a <doublequotes>    # List all windows
C-a <singlequote>     # Give prompt for name or number of window

My method:

I just use one screen with a slew of windows, so when I log in to my dev box it's just screen -D -RR and I am back where I left off.

If you have the VPN running then from Mac Terminal you can do ssh dev -t screen -D -RR where dev is the SSH alias of your remote server. Booyakasha.

Another handy trick is to remap Caps Lock to Control, which can be done in system preferences on your Mac. This makes the C-a gesture a lot faster.

How to use SSH Agent with GNU Screen

Read Managing SSH Sockets in GNU Screen