ps - report process status

ps lists process information subject to the appropriate privilege. If pid arguments are specified then only those processes are listed, otherwise all processes with the effective user id and controlling terminal of the caller are listed. The options may alter this default behavior.

The listings are sorted by <UID,START,PID>. Options taking list arguments accept either space or comma separators.

-a, --interactive

List all processes associated with terminals.

-B, --branch

Print tree branch prefixes for command and args. Implied by --children, --parents , and --tree. On by default; -B means --nobranch.

-c, --class

Equivalent to --fields=pid,class,pri,tty,time,comm.

-C, --children

Display the process tree hierarchy, including the children of all selected processes, in the CMD field list.

-d, --no-session

List all processes except session leaders.

-D, --define=key[=value]

Define key with optional value. value will be expanded when %(key) is specified in --format. key may override internal --format identifiers.

-e|A, --all

List all processes.

-E, --escape

Escape non-printing characters in command and args. On by default; -E means --noescape.

-f, --full

Equivalent to --fields=user,pid,ppid,start,tty,time,cmd.

-F, --format=format

Append to the listing format string (if --format is specified then --fields and all options that modify --fields are ignored.) The df(1), ls(1) and pax(1) commands also have --format options in this same style. format follows printf(3) conventions, except that sfio(3) inline ids are used instead of arguments: %[#-+][width[.precis [.base]]](id[:heading])char. If # is specified then the internal width and precision are used. If char is s then the string form of the item is listed, otherwise the corresponding numeric form is listed. If char is q then the string form of the item is $'...' quoted if it contains space or non-printing characters. If width is omitted then the default width is assumed. heading overrides the default heading for id. Supported ids are:

addr

Physical address. The title string is ADDR and the default width is 8.

class

Scheduling class. The title string is CLS and the default width is 3. Not available on this system.

cmd

Command path with arguments. The title string is CMD and the default width is -32.

comm

Command file base name. The title string is COMMAND and the default width is -24.

cpu

Cpu percent usage. The title string is %CPU and the default width is 4.

etime

Elapsed time since start. The title string is ELAPSED and the default width is 7.

flags

State flags (octal and additive). The title string is F and the default width is 3.

gid

Numeric group id. The title string is GROUP and the default width is 8. Not available on this system.

group

Group id name. The title string is GROUP and the default width is 8. Not available on this system.

job

Job id. The title string is JOB and the default width is 5.

nice

Adjusted scheduling priority. The title string is NI and the default width is 4.

npid

Native process id. The title string is NPID and the default width is 5. Not available on this system.

pgrp

Process group id. The title string is PGRP and the default width is 5.

pid

Process id. The title string is PID and the default width is 5.

ppid

Parent process id. The title string is PPID and the default width is 5.

pri

Scheduling priority. The title string is PRI and the default width is 3.

processor

Assigned processor. The title string is PROC and the default width is 3. Not available on this system.

refcount

Reference count. The title string is REFS and the default width is 4. Not available on this system.

rss

Resident page set size in kilobytes. The title string is RSS and the default width is 5.

sid

Session id. The title string is SID and the default width is 5.

size

Virtual memory size in kilobytes. The title string is SIZE and the default width is 6.

start

Start time. The title string is START and the default width is 8.

state

Basic state. The title string is S and the default width is 1.

tgrp

Terminal group id. The title string is TGRP and the default width is 5.

time

usr+sys time. The title string is TIME and the default width is 6.

tty

Controlling terminal base name. The title string is TT and the default width is -7.

uid

Numeric user id. The title string is USER and the default width is 8.

user

User id name. The title string is USER and the default width is 8.

wchan

Wait address. The title string is WCHAN and the default width is 8.

args

Equivalent to cmd.

command

Equivalent to cmd.

f

Equivalent to flags.

jid

Equivalent to job.

ntpid

Equivalent to npid.

pcpu

Equivalent to cpu.

pgid

Equivalent to pgrp.

proc

Equivalent to processor.

psr

Equivalent to processor.

rgroup

Equivalent to group.

ruser

Equivalent to user.

s

Equivalent to state.

sess

Equivalent to sid.

stime

Equivalent to start.

tid

Equivalent to tgrp.

vsz

Equivalent to size.

-g, --pgrps|process-groups=pgrp...

List processes with group leaders in the pgrp list.

-G, --groups=group...

List processes with real group id names or numbers in the group list.

-h, --heading

Output a heading line. On by default; -h means --noheading.

-j, --jobs

Equivalent to --fields=pid,pgrp,sid,tty,time,comm.

-l, --long

Equivalent to --fields=flags,state,user,pid,ppid,pri,nice,size,rss,wchan,tty,time,cmd.

-L, --leaders

List session leaders.

-n, --namelist

Specifies an alternate system namelist file. Ignored by this implementation.

-N, --default

Equivalent to --fields=pid,tty,time,comm. This is the format when --fields is not specified.

-o, --fields=key[+width][=label]...

(--format is more general.) List information according to key . Multiple --fields options may be specified; the resulting format is a left-right ordered list with duplicate entries deleted from the right. The default width can be overriden by appending +width to key, and the default label can be overridden by appending =label to key. The keys, labels and widths are listed under --format.

-p, --pids=pid...

List processes in the pid list.

-P, --parents

Display the process tree hierarchy, including the parents of all selected processes, in the CMD field list.

-r|R, --recursive

Recursively list the children of all selected processes.

-s, --sessions=sid...

List processes with session leaders in the sid list.

-t, --terminals|ttys=tty...

List processes with controlling terminals in the tty list.

-T, --tree|forest

Display the process tree hierarchy, including the parents and children of all selected processes, in the CMD field list.

-u|U, --users=user...

List processes with real user id names or numbers in the user list.

-v, --verbose

List verbose error messages for inaccessible processes.

-w, --wide

Ignored by this implementation.

-x, --detached

List all processes not associated with terminals.

-X, --hex

List numeric entries in hexadecimal notation.

df(1), kill(1), ls(1), nice(1), pax(1), ps(1), sh(1), top(1)

version

ps (AT&T Research) 2011-12-13

author

Glenn Fowler <gsf@research.att.com>

copyright

Copyright © 1998-2012 AT&T Intellectual Property

license

http://www.eclipse.org/org/documents/epl-v10.html