pgrep, pkill - look up or signal processes based on name
and other attributes
SYNOPSIS
pgrep [-flnvx] [-d delimiter] [-P ppid,...] [-g pgrp,...]
[-s sid,...] [-u euid,...] [-U uid,...] [-G gid,...]
[-t term,...] [pattern]
pkill [-signal] [-fnvx] [-P ppid,...] [-g pgrp,...]
[-s sid,...] [-u euid,...] [-U uid,...] [-G gid,...]
[-t term,...] [pattern]
DESCRIPTION
pgrep looks through the currently running processes and
lists the process IDs which matches the selection criteria
to stdout. All the criteria have to match. For example,
pgrep -u root sshd
will only list the processes called sshd AND owned by
root. On the other hand,
pgrep -u root,daemon
will list the processes owned by root OR daemon.
pkill will send the specified signal (by default SIGTERM)
to each process instead of listing them on stdout.
OPTIONS
-d delimiter
Sets the string used to delimit each process ID in
the output (by default a newline). (pgrep only.)
-f The pattern is normally only matched against the
process name. When -f is set, the full command
line is used.
-g pgrp,...
Only match processes in the process group IDs
listed. Process group 0 is translated into pgrep's
or pkill's own process group.
-G gid,...
Only match processes whose real group ID is listed.
Either the numerical or symbolical value may be
used.
-l List the process name as well as the process ID.
(pgrep only.)
the matching processes.
-P ppid,...
Only match processes whose parent process ID is
listed.
-s sid,...
Only match processes whose process session ID is
listed. Session ID 0 is translated into pgrep's or
pkill's own session ID.
-t term,...
Only match processes whose controlling terminal is
listed. The terminal name should be specified
without the "/dev/" prefix.
-u euid,...
Only match processes whose effective user ID is
listed. Either the numerical or symbolical value
may be used.
-U uid,...
Only match processes whose real user ID is listed.
Either the numerical or symbolical value may be
used.
-v Negates the matching.
-x Only match processes whose name (or command line if
-f is specified) exactly match the pattern.
-signal
Defines the signal to send to each matched process.
Either the numeric or the symbolic signal name can
be used. (pkill only.)
OPERANDS
pattern
Specifies an Extended Regular Expression for match
ing against the process names or command lines.
EXAMPLES
Example 1: Find the process ID of the named daemon:
unix$ pgrep -u root named
Example 2: Make syslog reread its configuration file:
unix$ pkill -HUP syslogd
Example 3: Give detailed information on all xterm
unix$ ps -fp $(pgrep -d, -x xterm)
Example 4: Make all netscape processes run nicer:
unix$ renice +4 `pgrep netscape`
EXIT STATUS
0 One or more processes matched the criteria.
1 No processes matched.
2 Syntax error in the command line.
3 Fatal error: out of memory etc.
NOTES
The process name used for matching is limited to the 15
characters present in the output of /proc/pid/stat. Use
the -f option to match against the complete command line,
/proc/pid/cmdline.
The running pgrep or pkill process will never report
itself as a match.
BUGS
The options -n and -v can not be combined. Let me know if
you need to do this.
Defunct processes are reported.
SEE ALSO
ps(1) proc(5) regex(5)
STANDARDS
pkill and pgrep were introduced in Sun's Solaris 7. This
implementation is fully compatible.
AUTHOR
Kjetil Torgrim Homme <kjetilho@ifi.uio.no>
Michael K. Johnson <johnsonm@redhat.com> is the current
maintainer of the procps package.
Please send bug reports to <procps-bugs@redhat.com>
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