{"id":11308,"date":"2019-03-13T00:22:30","date_gmt":"2019-03-13T00:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.appservgrid.com\/paw92\/?p=11308"},"modified":"2019-03-13T00:22:30","modified_gmt":"2019-03-13T00:22:30","slug":"30-useful-ps-command-examples-for-linux-process-monitoring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.appservgrid.com\/paw92\/index.php\/2019\/03\/13\/30-useful-ps-command-examples-for-linux-process-monitoring\/","title":{"rendered":"30 Useful \u2018ps Command\u2019 Examples for Linux Process Monitoring"},"content":{"rendered":"

ps<\/strong>\u00a0(processes status<\/strong>) is a native Unix\/Linux utility for viewing information concerning a selection of running processes on a system: it reads this information from the virtual files in\u00a0\/proc filesystem<\/a>. It is one of the important utilities for system administration specifically under process monitoring, to help you understand whats is going on a Linux system.<\/p>\n

It has numerous options for manipulating its output, however you\u2019ll find a small number of them practically useful for daily usage.<\/p>\n

Read Also<\/strong>:\u00a0All You Need To Know About Processes in Linux [Comprehensive Guide]<\/a><\/p>\n

In this article, we\u2019ll look at 30 useful examples of ps commands for monitoring active running processes on a Linux system.<\/p>\n

Note that\u00a0ps<\/strong>\u00a0produces output with a heading line, which represents the meaning of each column of information, you can find the meaning of all the labels in the\u00a0ps man page<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

List All Processes in Current Shell<\/h3>\n

1.<\/strong>\u00a0If you run\u00a0ps command<\/strong>\u00a0without any arguments, it displays processes for the current shell.<\/p>\n

$ ps \r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"List<\/p>\n
List Current Running Processes<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Print All Processes in Different Formats<\/h3>\n
2.<\/strong>\u00a0Display every active process on a Linux system in generic (Unix\/Linux) format.<\/p>\n
$ ps -A\r\nOR\r\n$ ps -e\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"List<\/p>\n
List Processes in Standard Format<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
3.<\/strong>\u00a0Display all processes in\u00a0BSD<\/strong>\u00a0format.<\/p>\n
$ ps au\r\nOR\r\n$ ps axu\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"List<\/p>\n
List Processes in BSD Format<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
4.<\/strong>\u00a0To perform a full-format listing, add the\u00a0-f<\/code>\u00a0or\u00a0-F<\/code>\u00a0flag.<\/p>\n
$ ps -ef\r\nOR\r\n$ ps -eF\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"List<\/p>\n
List Processes in Long List Format<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Display User Running Processes<\/h3>\n
5.<\/strong>\u00a0You can select all processes owned by you (runner of the\u00a0ps command<\/strong>, root in this case), type:<\/p>\n
$ ps -x \r\n<\/pre>\n
6.<\/strong>\u00a0To display a user\u2019s processes by real user ID (RUID<\/strong>) or name, use the\u00a0-U<\/code>\u00a0flag.<\/p>\n
$ ps -fU tecmint\r\nOR\r\n$ ps -fu 1000\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"List<\/p>\n
List User Processes by ID<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
7.<\/strong>\u00a0To select a user\u2019s processes by effective user\u00a0ID<\/strong>\u00a0(EUID<\/strong>) or name, use the\u00a0-u<\/code>\u00a0option.<\/p>\n
$ ps -fu tecmint\r\nOR\r\n$ ps -fu 1000\r\n<\/pre>\n
Print All Processes Running as Root (Real and Effecitve ID)<\/h3>\n
8.<\/strong>\u00a0The command below enables you to view every process running with\u00a0root<\/strong>\u00a0user privileges (real & effective ID) in user format.<\/p>\n
$ ps -U root -u root \r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"Display<\/p>\n
Display Root User Running Processes<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Display Group Processes<\/h3>\n
9.<\/strong>\u00a0If you want to list all processes owned by a certain group (real group ID (RGID<\/strong>) or name), type.<\/p>\n
$ ps -fG apache\r\nOR\r\n$ ps -fG 48\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"Display<\/p>\n
Display Group Processes<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
10.<\/strong>\u00a0To list all processes owned by effective group name (or session), type.<\/p>\n
$ ps -fg apache\r\n<\/pre>\n
Display Processes by PID and PPID<\/h3>\n
11.<\/strong>\u00a0You can list processes by\u00a0PID<\/strong>\u00a0as follows.<\/p>\n
$ ps -fp 1178\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"List<\/p>\n
List Processes by PID<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
12.<\/strong>\u00a0To select process by\u00a0PPID<\/strong>, type.<\/p>\n
$ ps -f --ppid 1154\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"List<\/p>\n
List Process by PPID<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
13.<\/strong>\u00a0Make selection using\u00a0PID<\/strong>\u00a0list.<\/p>\n
$ ps -fp 2226,1154,1146\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"List<\/p>\n
List Processes by PIDs<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Display Processes by TTY<\/h3>\n
14.<\/strong>\u00a0To select processes by\u00a0tty<\/strong>, use the\u00a0-t<\/strong>\u00a0flag as follows.<\/p>\n
$ ps -t pst\/0\r\n$ ps -t pst\/1\r\n$ ps -ft tty1\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"List<\/p>\n
List Processes by TTY<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Print Process Tree<\/h3>\n
15.<\/strong>\u00a0A process tree shows how processes on the system are linked to each other; processes whose parents have been killed are adopted by the init (or systemd).<\/p>\n
$ ps -e --forest \r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"List<\/p>\n
List Process Tree<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
16.<\/strong>\u00a0You can also print a process tree for a given process like this.<\/p>\n
$ ps -f --forest -C sshd\r\nOR\r\n$ ps -ef --forest | grep -v grep | grep sshd \r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"List<\/p>\n
List Tree View of Process<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Print Process Threads<\/h3>\n
17.<\/strong>\u00a0To print all threads of a process, use the\u00a0-H<\/code>\u00a0flag, this will show the\u00a0LWP<\/strong>\u00a0(light weight process<\/strong>) as well as\u00a0NLWP<\/strong>\u00a0(number of light weight process<\/strong>) columns.<\/p>\n
$ ps -fL -C httpd\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"List<\/p>\n
List Process Threads<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Specify Custom Output Format<\/h3>\n
Using the\u00a0-o<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0\u2013format<\/strong>\u00a0options, ps allows you to build user-defined output formats as shown below.<\/p>\n
18.<\/strong>\u00a0To list all format specifiers, include the\u00a0L<\/code>\u00a0flag.<\/p>\n
$ ps L\r\n<\/pre>\n
19.<\/strong>\u00a0The command below allows you to view the\u00a0PID<\/strong>,\u00a0PPID<\/strong>, user name and command of a process.<\/p>\n
$ ps -eo pid,ppid,user,cmd\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"List<\/p>\n
List Processes with Names<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
20.<\/strong>\u00a0Below is another example of a custom output format showing file system group, nice value, start time and elapsed time of a process.<\/p>\n
$ ps -p 1154 -o pid,ppid,fgroup,ni,lstart,etime\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"List<\/p>\n
List Process ID Information<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
21.<\/strong>\u00a0To find a\u00a0process name using its PID<\/a>.<\/p>\n
$ ps -p 1154 -o comm=\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"Find<\/p>\n
Find Process using PID<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Display Parent and Child Processes<\/h3>\n
22.<\/strong>\u00a0To select a specific process by its name, use the -C flag, this will also display all its child processes.<\/p>\n
$ ps -C sshd\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"Find<\/p>\n
Find Parent Child Process<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
23.<\/strong>\u00a0Find all\u00a0PIDs<\/strong>\u00a0of all instances of a process, useful when writing scripts that need to read\u00a0PIDs<\/strong>\u00a0from a std output or file.<\/p>\n
$ ps -C httpd -o pid=\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"Find<\/p>\n
Find All Process PIDs<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
24.<\/strong>\u00a0Check execution time of a process.<\/p>\n
$ ps -eo comm,etime,user | grep httpd\r\n<\/pre>\n
The output below shows the HTTPD service has been running for 1 hours, 48 minutes and 17 seconds.<\/p>\n
\n
\"Find<\/p>\n
Find Process Uptime<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Troubleshoot Linux System Performance<\/h3>\n
If your system isn\u2019t working as it should be, for instance if it\u2019s unusually slow, you can\u00a0perform some system troubleshooting<\/a>\u00a0as follows.<\/p>\n
26.<\/strong>\u00a0Find\u00a0top running processes<\/a>\u00a0by highest memory and CPU usage in Linux.<\/p>\n
$ ps -eo pid,ppid,cmd,%mem,%cpu --sort=-%mem | head\r\nOR\r\n$ ps -eo pid,ppid,cmd,%mem,%cpu --sort=-%cpu | head\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"Find<\/p>\n
Find Top Running Processes<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
27.<\/strong>\u00a0To kill an Linux\u00a0processes\/unresponsive applications<\/a>\u00a0or any process that is consuming high CPU time.<\/p>\n
First, find the\u00a0PID<\/strong>\u00a0of the unresponsive process or application.<\/p>\n
$ ps -A | grep -i stress\r\n<\/pre>\n
Then use the\u00a0kill command<\/a>\u00a0to terminate it immediately.<\/p>\n
$ kill -9 2583 2584\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"Find<\/p>\n
Find and Kill a Process<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Print Security Information<\/h3>\n
28.<\/strong>\u00a0Show security context (specifically for\u00a0SELinux<\/strong>) like this.<\/p>\n
$ ps -eM\r\nOR\r\n$ ps --context\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"Find<\/p>\n
Find SELinux Context<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
29.<\/strong>\u00a0You can also display security information in user-defined format with this command.<\/p>\n
$ ps -eo  euser,ruser,suser,fuser,f,comm,label\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"List<\/p>\n
List SELinux Context by Users<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Perform Real-time Process Monitoring Using Watch Utility<\/h3>\n
30.<\/strong>\u00a0Finally, since\u00a0ps<\/strong>\u00a0displays static information, you can employ the\u00a0watch utility<\/a>\u00a0to perform real-time process monitoring with repetitive output, displayed after every second as in the command below (specify a custom\u00a0ps command<\/strong>\u00a0to achieve your objective).<\/p>\n
$ watch -n 1 'ps -eo pid,ppid,cmd,%mem,%cpu --sort=-%mem | head'\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
\"Real<\/p>\n
Real Time Process Monitoring<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Important<\/strong>: ps only shows static information, to view frequently updated output you can use tools such as\u00a0htop<\/a>;\u00a0top<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0glances<\/a>: the last two are in fact Linux system performance monitoring tool.<\/p>\n
You might also like to read these following related articles.<\/p>\n
    \n
  1. How to Find a Process Name Using PID Number in Linux<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Find Top Running Processes by Highest Memory and CPU Usage in Linux<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. A Guide to Kill, Pkill and Killall Commands to Terminate a Process in Linux<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. How to Find and Kill Running Processes in Linux<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. How to Start Linux Command in Background and Detach Process in Terminal<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    That\u2019s all for now. If you have any useful\u00a0ps command<\/strong>\u00a0example(s) to share (not forgetting to explain what it does), use the comment form below.<\/p>\n
    Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    ps\u00a0(processes status) is a native Unix\/Linux utility for viewing information concerning a selection of running processes on a system: it reads this information from the virtual files in\u00a0\/proc filesystem. It is one of the important utilities for system administration specifically under process monitoring, to help you understand whats is going on a Linux system. It … <\/p>\n
    Continue reading “30 Useful \u2018ps Command\u2019 Examples for Linux Process Monitoring”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-linux"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.appservgrid.com\/paw92\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.appservgrid.com\/paw92\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.appservgrid.com\/paw92\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.appservgrid.com\/paw92\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.appservgrid.com\/paw92\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11308"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.appservgrid.com\/paw92\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11309,"href":"https:\/\/www.appservgrid.com\/paw92\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11308\/revisions\/11309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.appservgrid.com\/paw92\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.appservgrid.com\/paw92\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.appservgrid.com\/paw92\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}