KILL(1) KILL(1)
NAME
kill - terminate a process with extreme prejudice
SYNOPSIS
kill [ -sig ] processid ...
kill -l
DESCRIPTION
Kill sends the TERM (terminate, 15) signal to the specified
processes. If a signal name or number preceded by `-' is
given as first argument, that signal is sent instead of ter-
minate (see signal(2)). The signal names are listed by `kill
-l', and are as given in /usr/include/signal.h, stripped of
the common SIG prefix.
The terminate signal will kill processes that do not catch
the signal; `kill -9 ...' is a sure kill, as the KILL signal
(signal 9) cannot be caught. By convention, if process num-
ber 0 is specified, all members in the process group (i.e.
processes resulting from the current login) are signaled.
The killed processes must belong to the current user unless
he is the super-user.
To shut the system down and bring it up single user the
super-user may send the initialization process a TERM (ter-
minate) signal by `kill 1'; see init(8). To force init to
close and open terminals according to what is currently in
/etc/ttys use `kill -1 1' (sending a hangup, signal 1).
The process number of an asynchronous process started with
`&' is reported by the shell and by ps(1).
SEE ALSO
ps(1), kill(2), signal(2)