Linux check which process is running

How to check running process in Ubuntu Linux using command line

I am a new Ubuntu sysadmin for the Ubuntu Linux operating system. How do I check running process in Ubuntu Linux using the command line option?

One can use the Ubuntu Linux command line or terminal app to display a running process, change their priorities level, delete process and more. This page shows how to use various commands to list, kill and manage process on Ubuntu Linux.

Tutorial details
Difficulty level	Easy
Root privileges	Yes
Requirements	Ubuntu Linux
Est. reading time	5m

Check running process in Ubuntu Linux

The procedure to monitor the running process in Ubuntu Linux using the command line is as follows:

1. Open the terminal window on Ubuntu Linux
2. For remote Ubuntu Linux server use the ssh command for log in purpose
3. Type the ps aux command to see all running process in Ubuntu Linux
4. Alternatively, you can issue the top command/htop command to view running process in Ubuntu Linux

Let us see some example and usage for Ubuntu Linux in details.

NOTE: Please note that

>$ is my shell prompt. You need to type commands after the $ prompt.

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How to manage processes from the Ubuntu Linux terminal

The ps command is a traditional Ubuntu Linux command to lists running processes. The following command shows all processes running on your system:

1. vivek – User name
2. 30992 – PID (Ubuntu Linux process ID)
3. 06:31 – Process start time
4. ps -U vivek -au – Actual process or command with command line arguments

There may be too many processes. Hence, it uses the following less command/more command as pipe to display process one screen at a time:

>$ sudo ps -aux | less
Press q to exit from above Ubuntu Linux pagers. You can search for a particular Ubuntu Linux process using grep command/egrep command:

>$ sudo ps aux | grep chromium-browser

>$ sudo ps -aux | egrep ‘sshd|openvpn’

Ubuntu Linux pgrep command

Many variants of Ubuntu Linux comes with the pgrep command to search/find process. The syntax is:

Ubuntu Linux top and htop commands

The top command is another highly recommended method to see your Ubuntu Linux servers resource usage. One can see a list of top process that using the most memory or CPU or disk.

Ubuntu Linux kill command

Want to kill a process? Try kill command. The syntax is:

>$ kill -signal pid
Find PID using ps, pgrep or top command. Say you want to kill a PID # 3932, run:

>$ kill 3932
For some reason if the process can not be killed, try forceful killing:

Ubuntu Linux pkill command

If you wish to kill a process by name, try pkill command. The syntax is:

>$ sudo pkill -KILL php7-fpm

Ubuntu Linux killall command

The killall command kills processes by name, as opposed to the selection by PID as done by kill command:

>$ killall -9 emacs

Ubuntu Linux nice and renice command

The primary purpose of the nice command is to run a process/command at a lower or higher priority. Use the renice command to alter the nice value of one or more running Ubuntu Linux processes. The nice value can range from -20 to 19, with 19 being the lowest priority. Say, you want to compile software on a busy Ubuntu Linux server. You can set a very low priority, enter:

>$ nice -n 13 cc -c *.c &
Set a very high priority for a kernel update. Before rebooting Ubuntu Linux server, run:

To change the priority of a running process, type the following:

>$ sudo renice -10 $(pgrep vim)

Conclusion

This page shows how to manage the process on the Ubuntu Linux terminal. For further info see man pages or our example pages:

🐧 Get the latest tutorials on Linux, Open Source & DevOps via

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How to check running process in Unix using command line

Check running process in Unix

The procedure to monitor the running process in Unix using the command line is as follows:

1. Open the terminal window on Unix
2. For remote Unix server use the ssh command for log in purpose
3. Type the ps aux command to see all running process in Unix
4. Alternatively, you can issue the top command to view running process in Unix

How to manage processes from the Unix terminal

The ps command is a traditional Unix command to lists running processes. The following command shows all processes running on your system:
ps -aux
sudo ps -a

The process ID (PID) is essential to kill or control process on Unix. For example consider the following outputs:

1. vivek – User name
2. 43126 – PID (Unix process ID)
3. 10:59 – Process start time
4. vim – Actual process or command

There may be too many processes. Hence, it uses the following less command/more command as pipe to display process one screen at a time:
ps -aux | more
sudo ps -aux | less
Press q to exit from above Unix pagers. You can search for a particular Unix process using grep command/egrep command:
ps aux | grep nginx
sudo ps aux | grep vim
sudo ps -aux | egrep ‘sshd|openvpn’

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pgrep command

Many variants of Unix comes with the pgrep command to search/find process. The syntax is:
pgrep process
sudo pgrep sshd
pgrep vim
pgrep -l nginx

The -l option passed to the pgrep command to display long format and process name too.

top command

The top command is another highly recommended method to see your Unix servers resource usage. One can see a list of top process that using the most memory or CPU or disk.
top
sudo top
sudo top [options]

Unix kill command

Want to kill a process? Try kill command. The syntax is:
kill pid
kill -signal pid
Find PID using ps, pgrep or top command. Say you want to kill a PID # 50797, run:
kill 50797
For some reason if the process can not be killed, try forceful killing:
kill -9 50797
OR
kill -KILL 50797

pkill command

If you wish to kill a process by name, try pkill command. The syntax is:
pkill processName
pkill vim
pkill firefox
pkill -9 emacs
sudo pkill -KILL php7-fpm

killall command

The killall command kills processes by name, as opposed to the selection by PID as done by kill command:
killall vim
killall -9 emacs

nice and renice command

The primary purpose of the nice command is to run a process/command at a lower or higher priority. Use the renice command to alter the nice value of one or more running Unix processes. The nice value can range from -20 to 19, with 19 being the lowest priority. Say, you want to compile software on a busy Unix server. You can set a very low priority, enter:
nice -n 13 cc -c *.c &
Set a very high priority for a kernel update. Before rebooting Unix server, run:

To change the priority of a running process, type the following:
renice -p
renice
pgrep vim
renice 10 69947
sudo renice -10 $(pgrep vim)

Conclusion

This page shows how to manage the process on the Unix terminal. For further info see man pages or our example pages:

🐧 Get the latest tutorials on Linux, Open Source & DevOps via

Источник

How to check running process in Linux using command line

I am a new system administrator for the Linux operating system. How do I check running process in Linux using the command line option?

Tutorial details
Difficulty level	Easy
Root privileges	Yes
Requirements	Linux terminal
Est. reading time	4 mintues

One can use the Linux command line or terminal app to display a running process, change their priorities level, delete process and more. This page shows how to use various commands to list, kill and manage process on Linux.

Check running process in Linux

The procedure to monitor the running process in Linux using the command line is as follows:

1. Open the terminal window on Linux
2. For remote Linux server use the ssh command for log in purpose
3. Type the ps aux command to see all running process in Linux
4. Alternatively, you can issue the top command or htop command to view running process in Linux

Let us see some example and usage in details.

Please note that vivek@nixcraft:

$ is my shell prompt. You need to type commands after the $ prompt.

How to manage processes from the Linux terminal

The ps command is a traditional Linux command to lists running processes. The following command shows all processes running on your Linux based server or system:
vivek@nixcraft:

$ ps -aux
vivek@nixcraft:

1. root – User name
2. 1 – PID (Linux process ID)
3. 19:10 – Process start time
4. /sbin/init splash – Actual process or command

There may be too many processes. Hence, it uses the following less command/more command as pipe to display process one screen at a time:
vivek@nixcraft:

$ ps -aux | more
vivek@nixcraft:

$ sudo ps -aux | less
Press q to exit from above Linux pagers. You can search for a particular Linux process using grep command/egrep command:
vivek@nixcraft:

$ ps aux | grep firefox
vivek@nixcraft:

$ sudo ps aux | grep vim
vivek@nixcraft:

$ sudo ps -aux | egrep ‘sshd|openvpn|nginx’

• No ads and tracking
• In-depth guides for developers and sysadmins at Opensourceflare✨
• Join my Patreon to support independent content creators and start reading latest guides:
  • How to set up Redis sentinel cluster on Ubuntu or Debian Linux
  • How To Set Up SSH Keys With YubiKey as two-factor authentication (U2F/FIDO2)
  • How to set up Mariadb Galera cluster on Ubuntu or Debian Linux
  • A podman tutorial for beginners – part I (run Linux containers without Docker and in daemonless mode)
  • How to protect Linux against rogue USB devices using USBGuard

Join Patreon ➔

Linux pgrep command

Many variants of Linux comes with the pgrep command to search/find process. The syntax is:
vivek@nixcraft:

$ sudo pgrep sshd
vivek@nixcraft:

$ pgrep vim
vivek@nixcraft:

$ pgrep firefox
vivek@nixcraft:

Linux top command

The top command is another highly recommended method to see your Linux servers resource usage. One can see a list of top process that using the most memory or CPU or disk.
vivek@nixcraft:

$ sudo top
vivek@nixcraft:

Linux htop command to check running process in Linux

The htop command is an interactive process viewer and recommended method for Linux users. One can see a list of top process that using the most memory or CPU or disk and more:
vivek@nixcraft:

$ sudo htop
vivek@nixcraft:

Linux kill command

Want to kill a process? Try kill command. The syntax is:
vivek@nixcraft:

$ kill pid
vivek@nixcraft:

$ kill -signal pid
Find PID using ps, pgrep or top commands. Say you want to kill a PID # 16750, run:
vivek@nixcraft:

$ kill 16750
For some reason if the process can not be killed, try forceful killing:
vivek@nixcraft:

$ kill -9 16750
OR
vivek@nixcraft:

$ kill -KILL 16750

Linux pkill command

If you wish to kill a process by name, try pkill command. The syntax is:
vivek@nixcraft:

$ pkill processName
vivek@nixcraft:

$ pkill vim
vivek@nixcraft:

$ pkill firefox
vivek@nixcraft:

$ pkill -9 emacs
vivek@nixcraft:

$ sudo pkill -KILL php7-fpm

Linux killall command

The killall command kills processes by name, as opposed to the selection by PID as done by kill command:
vivek@nixcraft:

$ killall vim
vivek@nixcraft:

$ killall -9 emacs

Linux nice and renice command

The primary purpose of the nice command is to run a process/command at a lower or higher priority. Use the renice command to alter the nice value of one or more running Linux processes. The nice value can range from -20 to 19, with 19 being the lowest priority. Say, you want to compile software on a busy Linux server. You can set a very low priority, enter:
vivek@nixcraft:

$ nice -n 13 cc -c *.c &
Set a very high priority for a kernel update. Before rebooting Linux server, run:

Источник