pgrep(1)

NAME

pgrep, pkill — search or kill processes based on process name and attributes

SYNOPSIS

pgrep [-flvx] [-n|-o] [-d dlim] [-e etimelist] [-g pgrplist] [-G grouplist] [-P ppidlist] [-R prmgrplist] [-s sidlist] [-S statelist] [-t termlist] [-u userlist] [-U ruserlist] [-z vszlist] [-Z psetlist] [pattern]

pkill [-signal] [-fvx] [-n|-o] [-e etimelist] [-g pgrplist] [-G grouplist] [-P ppidlist] [-R prmgrplist] [-s sidlist] [-S statelist] [-t termlist] [-u userlist] [-U ruserlist] [-z vszlist] [-Z psetlist] [pattern]

DESCRIPTION

pgrep searches for processes having attributes matching the selection criteria specified by its arguments. The process ID numbers of the matched processes are printed, separated by a delimiter, the default being the newline. Each attribute option can take multiple values separated by comma. pgrep will select those processes that match all the attribute options specified. If an attribute option has multiple values, then the process needs to match one of the values.

For example:

pgrep -u root,daemon -G sys,daemon

matches processes having effective user ID (root OR daemon) AND real group ID (sys OR daemon).

pkill selects processes similar to pgrep, but instead of printing the process ID numbers, it signals the matched processes. The user can specify the signal to be sent to the matched process as the first argument to pkill. By default SIGTERM is assumed.

Options

The following options can be used to specify processes to be selected.

-signal

Specifies the signal to be sent to each matched process (pkill only). If no signal is specified, SIGTERM is sent by default. The value of signal follows the same syntax as that of the kill command; see kill(1). This option, if specified, should be the first argument to pkill.

-d dlim

Specifies the delimiter to be used while printing the matched entries (pgrep only). The default delimiter is a newline.

-e timelist

Selects processes whose elapsed time matches the time limits specified in timelist. This time limit can be specified as given below:

gtime1ltime2

which will be interpreted as elapsed time greater than time1 and less than time2. If the argument is only time, then gtime is assumed. The syntax for specifying time is:

D:H:m:s

for D days, H hours, m minutes and s seconds. If one of the fields is empty, then 0 is assumed for that field.

For example:

-e 300

will be interpreted as elapsed time greater than 300 seconds, and

-e g30:10l2:::,g3:::,l10

will be interpreted as elapsed time (greater than 30 minutes and 10 seconds AND less than 2 days, specified by 'el'2) OR (greater than 3 days) OR (less than 10 seconds, specified by 'el'10).

-f

Perform pattern matching on the entire command line rather than the command name.

-G grouplist

Select processes whose real group ID numbers or group names are given in grouplist.

-g pgrplist

Select processes whose process group ID numbers are given in pgrplist.

-l

Long listing (pgrep only). Print the command name along with the PID. If used with the -f option, the command line argument is printed instead of command name.

-n

Select the most recently created process matching the criteria. This option is mutually exclusive with the -o option.

-o

Select the oldest process matching the criteria. This option is mutually exclusive with the -n option.

-P ppidlist

Select processes whose parent process ID numbers are given in ppidlist.

-R pgrmgrplist

Select processes belonging to PRM process resource groups whose names or ID numbers are given in prmgrplist. See DEPENDENCIES.

-S statelist

Selects processes whose current state is given in the statelist. The values for statelist can be:

R: Running
S: Sleeping
T: Stopped
Z: Zombie

-s sidlist

Select processes whose session ID numbers are given in sidlist.

-t termlist

Select processes associated with the terminals given in termlist. Terminal identifiers can be specified in one of two forms:

the device's file name (such as tty04), or
if the device's file name starts with tty, just the rest of it (such as 04).

If the device's file is in a directory other than /dev or /dev/pty, the terminal identifier must include the name of the directory under /dev that contains the device file (such as pts/5).

-U ruserlist

Select processes whose real user ID numbers or login names are given in ruserlist.

-u userlist

Select processes whose real user ID numbers or login names are given in userlist.

-v

Reverse selection. Select processes that do not meet the matching criteria.

-x

Perform an exact match of the pattern string.

-Z psetidlist

Select processes whose processor set IDs are given in psetlist.

-z sizelist

Selects processes whose virtual size matches the size limits specified in sizelist. The syntax for specifying size limit is as given below:

glowerlimitlupperlimit

which will be interpreted as virtual size in kilobytes greater than lowerlimit and less than upperlimit. If the argument is only limit then glimit is assumed.

Operands

pattern: Expression (ERE) pattern to match against either the basename or full process argument string. See regexp(5) for a complete description of the ERE syntax.

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

Environment Variables

If LANG is not specified or is null, it defaults to C (see lang(5)).

RETURN VALUE

pgrep and pkill exits with one of the following values:

0: One or more processes matched the criteria.
1: No process matched the criteria.
2: Syntax error in command line.
3: Other errors

EXAMPLES

Print PID of the cron daemon:

pgrep -u root cron 

Send SIGHUP signal to syslogd:

pkill -HUP -u root syslogd 

Print PIDs of telnet sessions that are active for more than 2 days:

pgrep -e 2::: telnet$ 

WARNINGS

Process information can change while pgrep or pkill is running; the picture it gives is only a snapshot in time.

With the -f option, pgrep and pkill matches only up to the initial 1020 bytes of command line with the pattern string.

pgrep and pkill will not match itself.

DEPENDENCIES

HP Process Resource Manager

The -R option require the optional HP Process Resource Manager (PRM) software to be installed and configured. See prmconfig(1) for a description of how to configure HP PRM, and prmconf(4) for the definition of process resource group.

If HP PRM is not installed and configured and -R is specified, pgrep or pkill fails with error message.

FILES

/dev: Directory of terminal device files.