| Linux / Unix Command: ps |
The ps Command is used to display the currently running processes on Unix/Linux systems. If you know the 'Task-Manager" which pops up under Windows NT/2000/XP when you press CTRL+ALT+DEL then you will quickly grasp what ps does on Linux. It can show you the processes on your system in various formats. Here is a typical example:
To display all processes owned by the current user type ps ux and hit return:
$ ps ux
This will show a listing of processes similar to:
USER PID %CPU %MEM
VSZ RSS TTY STAT START TIME COMMAND
jhaas 3064 0.1 3.6 18324 9088 ? S 17:55 0:00 /usr/bin/gnome-session
jhaas 3107 0.0 0.3 3128 968 ? S 17:55 0:00 /usr/bin/ssh-agent /etc/X11/xinit/Xclients
jhaas 3112 0.1 2.9 11208 7376 ? S 17:55 0:00 /usr/libexec/gconfd-2 11
jhaas 3130 0.0 0.6 3584 1696 ? S 17:55 0:00 xscreensaver -nosplash
jhaas 3133 0.8 5.3 21744 13216 ? S 17:55 0:03 gnome-panel --sm-client-id default2
jhaas 3137 0.0 2.4 16296 6172 ? S 17:55 0:00 magicdev --sm-client-id default4
jhaas 3141 0.0 2.8 16676 6936 ? S 17:55 0:00 eggcups --sm-client-id default6
jhaas 3143 0.0 1.7 11652 4308 ? S 17:55 0:00 pam-panel-icon --sm-client-id default0
jhaas 3145 0.2 5.4 24280 13564 ? S 17:55 0:01 /usr/bin/python /usr/bin/rhn-applet-gui
--sm-client-id default5
jhaas 3154 0.3 4.1 23856 10172 ? S 17:55 0:01 evolution
jhaas 3157 0.0 0.9 5636 2228 ? S 17:55 0:00 oafd --ac-activate --ior-output-fd=10
jhaas 3216 0.2 3.1 12788 7844 ? S 17:56 0:00 emacs
jhaas 3218 1.3 4.0 20248 9904 ? R 17:56 0:04 gnome-terminal
jhaas 3219 0.0 0.2 1852 572 ? S 17:56 0:00 [gnome-pty-helpe]
jhaas 3220 0.0 0.5 4316 1388 pts/0 S 17:56 0:00 bash
jhaas 3268 0.0 0.2 2636 684 pts/0 R 18:01 0:00 ps ux
Important: Use the man command (% man) to see how a command is used on your particular computer.
