man(1) Manual page archive


     PS(1)                                                       PS(1)

     NAME
          ps - process status

     SYNOPSIS
          ps [ aFfhlnrtuxnumber ] ...

     DESCRIPTION
          Ps prints information about processes.  Normally, only the
          user's non-shell processes are eligible for printing; speci-
          fying a includes other user's processes; specifying x
          includes shell processes as well.  (A stopped shell is
          printed even if the x flag is missing.)

          All output formats include, for each process, the process
          id, its control terminal, status, cpu time, and command.
          The status is given by a sequence of letters:

          R Running.               T Stopped.
          P Waiting for a page.    S Sleeping (< 20 seconds).
          I Idle (> 20 seconds).
          W Swapped out.           N Process is `nice'; see nice(1).

          R, T, P, S, and I are mutually exclusive.

          Options are given in blank-separated clusters:

          a      give information about all users (ordinarily only
                 one's own processes are displayed).
          Ffile  display all processes having an open file; this
                 option must be the last in a cluster.
          f      display file descriptors (with prepended process id).
          ff     display file descriptors (omitting process id).
          h      print column headers.
          l      (long) print the process size, resident set size,
                 wait channel, and parent process id.
          n      print unsorted (output is normally sorted by process
                 id).
          r      print processes which match the current real or
                 effective user id (normally only processes matching
                 the current effective user id are printed).
          tx     print processes whose controlling tty is x, where x
                 is either ``.'' (for user's tty), or one of the forms
                 printed by ps, e.g.  t3 for /dev/tty3, tconso for
                 console, tpt12 for /dev/pt/pt12, t? for processes
                 with no tty, etc. This option must be the last in a
                 cluster.
          u      include a name of the effective userid and cpu share
                 in percent; sort by usage.
          x      include shell and init processes.
          number print the designated process; must be the last option

     PS(1)                                                       PS(1)

                 in a cluster.

          Multiple F, t, and number options are allowed; the union of
          all selections is printed.

     FILES
          /proc            process images
          /dev/drum        swap device
          /dev/kmemr       kernel memory
          /dev             searched to find tty names
          /dev/pt          searched to find pt names
          /dev/dk          searched to find dk names
          /etc/fstab       searched to find local file system names
          /usr/net/friends searched to find network file system names

     SEE ALSO
          kill(1), nice(2), proc(4), oops(8)

     BUGS
          Things can change while ps is running.
          A process may alter its apparent command name and arguments.