Processes articles

Last change: 2025-01-10

The Linux command pidof returns the process ID (PID) of a process when searching for it by its name. Useful for command-line tasks and scripting.

Last change: 2025-01-10

The numactl command provides NUMA (Non-Uniform Memory Access) information and allows to make run commands with a specific NUMA policy.

Last change: 2025-01-10

The renice command is a small utility on Linux systems and can be used to change the priority of a running process based on PID, process group ID, or user.

Last change: 2025-01-10

The nice command is a small utility on Linux systems and can be used to run a command with a specified scheduler priority.

Last change: 2025-01-10

The units command is a tool for Linux systems to convert one type or amount into another one. This can be a quantity, size, or currency.

Last change: 2025-01-10

The command pslog is a tool for Linux systems to show what log files a process has opened. If none, only the process ID will be displayed.

Last change: 2025-01-10

The command prtstat is a tool for Linux systems to show the process information such as process state, CPU and memory usage, and user and group information.

Last change: 2025-01-10

The command peekfd is a tool for Linux systems to monitor a process and see what file descriptor activity occurs, such as on open files and sockets.

Last change: 2025-01-10

The command pstree is a tool for Linux systems to show the processes and their children in a visual representation like a tree.

Last change: 2025-01-10

The slabtop command is a tool to how the slab usage of the Linux kernel, giving an idea on how fragmented the memory is.

Last change: 2025-01-10

The basename command is a small utility on Linux systems to strip the directory and suffix of a filename, to retrieve just the base of the name.

Last change: 2025-01-10

The pmap command is a tool to analyze a running process and show its process mapping, including the usage of libraries and memory usage.

Last change: 2025-01-10

The pwdx command is a tool on Linux to show the current working of a running process. This map help in troubleshooting issues with running programs.

Last change: 2025-01-06

Harden services on Linux with systemd unit setting PrivateUsers. It defines a new user namespace for the service and provides process capability isolation.

Last change: 2025-01-06

Harden services on Linux by using the systemd unit setting KeyringMode, which defines if the kernel session keyring information is available to the service.

Last change: 2025-01-06

Harden services on Linux by using the systemd unit setting PrivatePIDs, which allows running a service in its private PID namespace.

Last change: 2025-01-10

The Linux command pscap shows an overview of running processes and what capabilities they have, or if they have the full set (unrestricted).

Last change: 2025-01-06

Harden system services by using the systemd unit settings such as NoExecPaths to disable program execution from specified paths.

Last change: 2025-01-07

Harden system services by using the systemd unit settings such as ExecPaths and NoExecPaths to allow program execution from only specified paths.

Last change: 2025-01-06

Got a busy Linux systems and wondering what the culprit is? Learn how to monitor them and focus on disk activity with tools like iotop, sar, vmstat, or iostat.

Last change: 2025-01-06

Control groups allocate resources to a set of processes. Learn how to find the control group (cgroup) of a process by using /proc, pidof, or ps.

Last change: 2025-01-06

Want to see the control group in the output of the ps command? Here is how to tune your command options to include that.

Last change: 2025-01-06

Learn how to stop all processes of a single user using the killall command. To make this work, use the --user option and specify the username.

Last change: 2025-01-10

The kill command can be used on Linux systems to send a defined signal to a process. Learn how to use it and what signals are available.

Last change: 2025-01-06

A zombie process, or defunct process, has completed execution, but has still an entry in the process table. Learn more about a zombie process on Linux.

Last change: 2025-01-06

How to kill a zombie process on Linux if it no longer responds to kill -9? Learn about zombie processes, including a few last steps that you can try.

Last change: 2025-01-06

When running a Linux system, you may need to find the process ID (PID) and process name. On Linux we can do this with the help of the pgrep command.

Last change: 2025-01-06

Each process on Linux has its own number. Discover this number is called the process ID (PID). Learn how to find the PID for a running process by name.

Last change: 2025-01-06

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

Last change: 2025-01-06

Linux administrators can interact in multiple ways with running processes. Learn how to find and stop a running process on Linux by searching for its name.

Last change: 2025-01-06

Frequently asked questions about running processes on a Linux systems, such as starting and stopping processes, query information, and monitoring them.

Last change: 2025-01-06

Linux has in-depth process information. Learn more about processes, such as when a process was started, using the ps tool.

Last change: 2025-01-10

The command smem can help showing memory usage, including the usage of swap. Here are the most common options explained.

Last change: 2025-01-06

This section provides tips and tricks to deal with processes on Linux systems. Got another tip? Let it know!

Last change: 2025-01-06

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.

Last change: 2025-01-06

Linux systems have a lot of processes running by default. Let's dive into how programs are started and how you can see all details of each running process.

Last change: 2025-01-06

Linux memory management is an extensive subject. This guide helps you understanding the how to analyze it and obtain available memory information.

Last change: 2025-01-06

In-depth article about auditing Linux processes. Determination of running processes, memory and on-disk structure and the proper tools for analyzing them.