Linux: kill command
This Linux tutorial explains how to use the Linux kill command with syntax and arguments.
NAME
kill - send a signal to a processSYNOPSIS
kill [ -signal | -s signal ] pid ...kill [ -L | -V, --version ]
kill -l [ signal ]
DESCRIPTION
The default signal for kill is TERM. Use -l or -L to list available signals. Particularly useful signals include HUP, INT, KILL, STOP, CONT, and 0. Alternate signals may be specified in three ways: -9 -SIGKILL -KILL. Negative PID values may be used to choose whole process groups; see the PGID column in ps command output. A PID of -1 is special; it indicates all processes except the kill process itself and init.SIGNALS
The signals listed below may be available for use with kill. When known constant, numbers and default behavior are shown.
Name | Num | Action | Description |
---|---|---|---|
0 | 0 | n/a | exit code indicates if a signal may be sent |
ALRM | 14 | exit | |
HUP | 1 | exit | |
INT | 2 | exit | |
KILL | 9 | exit | cannot be blocked |
PIPE | 13 | exit | |
POLL | exit | ||
PROF | exit | ||
TERM | 15 | exit | |
USR1 | exit | ||
USR2 | exit | ||
VTALRM | exit | ||
STKFLT | exit | might not be implemented | |
PWR | ignore | might exit on some systems | |
WINCH | ignore | ||
CHLD | ignore | ||
URG | ignore | ||
TSTP | stop | might interact with the shell | |
TTIN | stop | might interact with the shell | |
TTOU | stop | might interact with the shell | |
STOP | stop | cannot be blocked | |
CONT | restart | continue if stopped, otherwise ignore | |
ABRT | 6 | core | |
FPE | 8 | core | |
ILL | 4 | core | |
QUIT | 3 | core | |
SEGV | 11 | core | |
TRAP | 5 | core | |
SYS | core | might not be implemented | |
EMT | core | might not be implemented | |
BUS | core | core dump might fail | |
XCPU | core | core dump might fail | |
XFSZ | core | core dump might fail |
NOTES
Your shell (command line interpreter) may have a built-in kill command. You may need to run the command described here as /bin/kill to solve the conflict.
EXAMPLES
- kill -9 -1
- Kill all processes you can kill.
- kill -l 11
- Translate number 11 into a signal name.
- kill -L
- List the available signal choices in a nice table.
- kill 123 543 2341 3453
- Send the default signal, SIGTERM, to all those processes.
STANDARDS
This command meets appropriate standards. The -L flag is Linux-specific.Advertisements