Processes

A Linux systems without processes is not possible. So we collect tips to deal with processes and improve your skills.

Kill a process that won't respond to CTRL+C

Got a process that won't respond to CTRL+C? With this tip you can kill almost all processes without having to open a second terminal.

Linux process signals and their meaning

Want to know the difference between SIGHUP, SIGKILL, and SIGTERM? Learn about Linux process signals, including a list and description.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to see the cgroup of a process?

Look in the 'cgroup' file within the /proc directory and the related process ID.

cat /proc/PID/cgroup

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How to see cgroup in ps output?

Run the ps command and select the columns 'pid' and 'cgroup' by using the option -o.

ps -e -o pid,cgroup:64,args

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How to stop all processes of a single user?

Use the killall command and specify the user to stop all processes for that particular user.

killall --user USER

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What is a zombie process?

A zombie process, or defunct process, has completed execution, but has still an entry in the process table. The process is considered to be terminated, but lacks the proper house keeping to reflect this state.

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How to kill a zombie process?

Send the SIGCHLD to the parent process, stop the parent process, or reboot the system

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How to show a running process name and its process ID (PID)?

Use pgrep to search for running processes by their name and show their process ID.

pgrep -l PROCESSNAME

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How to find the process ID (PID) by its process name?

Use the pidof command to search for processes by their process name.

pidof PROCESSNAME

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How to kill a running process by its name?

Use the pkill command to select a running process by its name and send a kill signal.

pkill --interactive PROCESSNAME

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