phpman > man > pgrep(1)

PGREP(1)                                    User Commands                                   PGREP(1)



NAME
       pgrep,  pkill,  pidwait  - look up, signal, or wait for processes based on name and other at‐
       tributes

SYNOPSIS
       pgrep [options] pattern
       pkill [options] pattern
       pidwait [options] pattern

DESCRIPTION
       pgrep looks through the currently running processes and lists the process IDs which match 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.

       pidwait will wait for each process instead of listing them on stdout.

OPTIONS
       -signal
       --signal signal
              Defines the signal to send to each matched process.  Either the numeric  or  the  sym‐
              bolic signal name can be used.  (pkill only.)

       -c, --count
              Suppress  normal output; instead print a count of matching processes.  When count does
              not match anything, e.g. returns zero, the command will return  non-zero  value.  Note
              that  for  pkill  and  pidwait, the count is the number of matching processes, not the
              processes that were successfully signaled or waited for.

       -d, --delimiter delimiter
              Sets the string used to delimit each process ID in the output (by default a  newline).
              (pgrep only.)

       -e, --echo
              Display name and PID of the process being killed.  (pkill only.)

       -f, --full
              The  pattern  is  normally only matched against the process name.  When -f is set, the
              full command line is used.

       -g, --pgroup pgrp,...
              Only match processes in the process group IDs listed.  Process group 0  is  translated
              into pgrep's, pkill's, or pidwait's own process group.

       -G, --group gid,...
              Only  match processes whose real group ID is listed.  Either the numerical or symboli‐
              cal value may be used.

       -i, --ignore-case
              Match processes case-insensitively.

       -l, --list-name
              List the process name as well as the process ID.  (pgrep only.)

       -a, --list-full
              List the full command line as well as the process ID.  (pgrep only.)

       -n, --newest
              Select only the newest (most recently started) of the matching processes.

       -o, --oldest
              Select only the oldest (least recently started) of the matching processes.

       -O, --older secs
              Select processes older than secs.

       -P, --parent ppid,...
              Only match processes whose parent process ID is listed.

       -s, --session sid,...
              Only match processes whose process session ID is listed.  Session ID 0  is  translated
              into pgrep's, pkill's, or pidwait's own session ID.

       -t, --terminal term,...
              Only  match  processes whose controlling terminal is listed.  The terminal name should
              be specified without the "/dev/" prefix.

       -u, --euid euid,...
              Only match processes whose effective user ID is listed.  Either the numerical or  sym‐
              bolical value may be used.

       -U, --uid uid,...
              Only match processes whose real user ID is listed.  Either the numerical or symbolical
              value may be used.

       -v, --inverse
              Negates the matching.  This option is usually used in pgrep's  or  pidwait's  context.
              In  pkill's  context the short option is disabled to avoid accidental usage of the op‐
              tion.

       -w, --lightweight
              Shows all thread ids instead of pids in pgrep's or pidwait's context.  In pkill's con‐
              text this option is disabled.

       -x, --exact
              Only  match  processes whose names (or command lines if -f is specified) exactly match
              the pattern.

       -F, --pidfile file
              Read PIDs from file.  This option is more useful for pkillorpidwait than pgrep.

       -L, --logpidfile
              Fail if pidfile (see -F) not locked.

       -r, --runstates D,R,S,Z,...
              Match only processes which match the process state.

       --ns pid
              Match processes that belong to the same namespaces. Required to run as root  to  match
              processes from other users. See --nslist for how to limit which namespaces to match.

       --nslist name,...
              Match  only  the  provided  namespaces.  Available  namespaces:  ipc,  mnt,  net, pid,
              user,uts.

       -q, --queue value
              Use sigqueue(3) rather than kill(2) and the value argument is used to specify an inte‐
              ger  to  be sent with the signal. If the receiving process has installed a handler for
              this signal using the SA_SIGINFO flag to sigaction(2) , then it can obtain  this  data
              via the si_value field of the siginfo_t structure.

       -V, --version
              Display version information and exit.

       -h, --help
              Display help and exit.

OPERANDS
       pattern
              Specifies  an  Extended  Regular  Expression for matching against the process names or
              command lines.

EXAMPLES
       Example 1: Find the process ID of the named daemon:

              $ pgrep -u root named

       Example 2: Make syslog reread its configuration file:

              $ pkill -HUP syslogd

       Example 3: Give detailed information on all xterm processes:

              $ ps -fp $(pgrep -d, -x xterm)

       Example 4: Make all chrome processes run nicer:

              $ renice +4 $(pgrep chrome)

EXIT STATUS
       0      One or more processes matched the criteria. For pkill and pidwait, one  or  more  pro‐
              cesses must also have been successfully signalled or waited for.
       1      No processes matched or none of them could be signalled.
       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/cmd‐
       line.

       The running pgrep, pkill, or pidwait process will never report itself as a match.

BUGS
       The options -n and -o and -v can not be combined.  Let me know if you need to do this.

       Defunct processes are reported.


SEE ALSO
       ps(1), regex(7), signal(7), sigqueue(3), killall(1), skill(1), kill(1), kill(2)

AUTHOR
       Kjetil Torgrim Homme ⟨kjetilho AT ifi.no⟩

REPORTING BUGS
       Please send bug reports to ⟨procps AT freelists.org⟩



procps-ng                                    2020-06-04                                     PGREP(1)