Unix Ps Command

In most Unix-like operating systems, the ps program displays the currently-running processes. A related Unix utility named top provides a real-time view of the running processes.

The ps command is analogous to the Microsoft Windows tasklist command. In Windows PowerShell, ps is a predefined command alias for the Get-Process cmdlet which basically serves the same purpose.

Examples

For example:

                        # ps PID TTY TIME CMD 7431 pts/0 00:00:00 su 7434 pts/0 00:00:00 bash18585 pts/0 00:00:00 ps
                      

Users can also utilize the ps command in conjunction with the grep command to find information about one process, such as its process id.

An example of this is:

                        # ps -A | grep firefox-bin11778 ? 02:40:08 firefox-bin11779 ? 00:00:00 firefox-bin
                      

Options

ps has many options. On operating systems that support the UNIX and POSIX standards, ps commonly runs with the options -ef , where "-e" selects e very process and "-f" chooses the " f ull" output format. Another common option on these systems is -l , which specifies the " l ong" output format.

Most systems derived from BSD fail to accept the POSIX and UNIX standard options because of historical conflicts (for example, the "e" or "-e" option will cause the display of environment variables). On such systems, ps commonly runs with the non-standard options aux , where "a" lists all processes on a terminal, including those of other users, "x" lists all processes without controlling terminals and "u" adds the controlling user for each process. Note that, for maximum compatibility when using this syntax, there is no "-" in front of the "aux". Also you can add 'www' after aux, like "ps auxwww" for complete information about the process including all parameters.

See also

• top
• pstree
• pgrep
• kill
• List of Unix programs

External links

• ps — Specification from the Single Unix Specification
• ps(1) : report a snapshot of the current processes – 

  Unix ps command for Mac OS apps [Archive] - AppleInsider

  Archive] Unix ps command for Mac OS apps Mac OS ... When i run the ps command through unix it only shows up all current proceses in the unix shell.

  ...

  Unix ps command

  Softpanorama (slightly skeptical) Open Source Software Educational Society: May the source be with you, but remember the KISS principle ;-)

  ...

  ps - Linux Command - Unix Command

  Linux / Unix Command Library: ps. Learn about its synopsis, description, options, and examples.

  ...

  Linux Command - ps - kill

  Linux / Unix Command Library: ps and kill -- The Arnold Schwarzenegger equivalent among the Linux/Unix commands.

  ...

  ps command - Dev Shed

  ps command- UNIX Help. Visit Dev Shed to discuss ps command

  ...

  Learn Unix: The "ps" command

  Command: ps: Description: The "ps" command (process statistics) lets you check the status of processes that are running on your Unix system.

  ...

  UNIX ps command

  UNIX ps command. The ps command reports information about active processes. If no options are specified, you will see information about only those processes connected to your ...

  ...

  UnixWare / Open UNIX ps command line buffer overflow vulnerability ...

  UnixWare / Open UNIX ps command line buffer overflow vulnerability Date Discovered: 10 Jan 2003

  ...

  Hiding Passwords From UNIX ps Command

  Pictures of chickens, flowers, wheat, a boy looking through a magnifying glass, irrigation pipe, soybean pods, and fruits and vegetables.

  ...

  Linux and UNIX ps command help

  Unix ps command help ... a: List information about all processes most frequently requested: all those except process group leaders and processes not associated ...

  ...