term% cat index.txt PS(1) General Commands Manual 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; specifying 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 con‐
trol 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 pro‐
cesses 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 in a clus‐
ter.
Multiple F, t, and number options are allowed; the union of all selec‐
tions 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.
PS(1)