ps ( 1 ) USER COMMANDSps ( 1 )

NAME

ps - report process status

SYNOPSIS

ps [ options ] [ pid ... ]

DESCRIPTION

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.

OPTIONS

-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,command.
-C, --children
Display the process tree hierarchy, including the children of all selected processes, in the COMMAND 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,args.
-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.
args
Command path with arguments. The title string is COMMAND and the default width is -32.
class
Scheduling class. The title string is CLS and the default width is 3. Not available on this system.
command
Command file base name. The title string is COMMAND and the default width is -16.
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. Not available on this system.
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.
comm
Equivalent to command.
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,command.
-l, --long
Equivalent to --fields=flags,state,user,pid,ppid,pri,nice,size,rss,wchan,tty,time,command.
-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,command. 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 COMMAND 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 COMMAND 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.

SEE ALSO

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

IMPLEMENTATION

version
ps (AT&T Research) 2008-01-31
author
Glenn Fowler <gsf@research.att.com>
copyright
Copyright © 1998-2008 AT&T Intellectual Property
license
http://www.opensource.org/licenses/cpl1.0.txt