Process Management in Linux

Discover how to manage processes in Linux, including starting, stopping, and monitoring processes, as well as using tools like top and htop.

Process Management in Linux  

Efficient process management is vital for maintaining system performance and stability. This guide covers starting, stopping, and monitoring processes in Linux, including using tools like top and htop.

Managing Processes  

Listing Processes  

Use ps to list running processes.

ps aux

Starting and Stopping Processes  

Use & to run a process in the background.

sleep 60 &

Use kill to terminate a process.

kill <pid>

Using pkill  

Use pkill to terminate processes by name.

pkill sleep

Monitoring Processes  

Using top  

Use top to display real-time system information and process activity.

top

Using htop  

Use htop as an enhanced version of top.

htop

Using pgrep  

Use pgrep to search for processes by name.

pgrep sleep

Process Priority  

Using nice and renice  

Use nice to start a process with a specific priority.

nice -n 10 command

Use renice to change the priority of an existing process.

renice 10 -p <pid>

Conclusion  

Effective process management is essential for system administration. Practice starting, stopping, and monitoring processes, and use tools like top and htop to keep your system running smoothly.