SKILL(1) Linux User's Manual SKILL(1)
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NAME
skill, snice - report process status
SYNOPSIS
skill [signal to send] [options] process selection criteria
snice [new priority] [options] process selection criteria
DESCRIPTION
The default signal for skill 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.
The default priority for snice is +4. (snice +4 ...) Priority numbers range from +20 (slowest) to -20 (fastest). Negative priority num-
bers are restricted to administrative users.
GENERAL OPTIONS
-f fast mode This is not currently useful.
-i interactive use You will be asked to approve each
action.
-v verbose output Display information about selected
processes.
-w warnings enabled This is not currently useful.
-n no action This only displays the process ID.
PROCESS SELECTION OPTIONS
Selection criteria can be: terminal, user, pid, command. The options below may be used to ensure correct interpretation.
-t The next argument is a terminal (tty or pty).
-u The next argument is a username.
-p The next argument is a process ID number.
-c The next argument is a command name.
SIGNALS
The signals listed below are available for use with skill. When known, numbers and default behavior are shown.
Name Num Action Description
() ()
ALRM 14 exit
HUP 1 exit
INT 2 exit
KILL 9 exit this signal may not be blocked
PIPE 13 exit
POLL exit
PROF exit
TERM 15 exit
USR1 exit
USR2 exit
VTALRM exit
STKFLT exit i386, m68k, arm and ppc hardware only
UNUSED exit i386, m68k, arm and ppc hardware only
TSTP stop context-dependent behavior may appear random
TTIN stop context-dependent behavior may appear random
TTOU stop context-dependent behavior may appear random
STOP stop this signal may not be blocked
CONT restart continue if stopped, otherwise ignore
PWR ignore may exit on some systems
WINCH ignore
CHLD ignore
URG ignore
ABRT 6 core
FPE 8 core
ILL 4 core
QUIT 3 core
SEGV 11 core
TRAP 5 core
SYS core may not be implemented
EMT core may not be implemented
BUS core core dump may fail
XCPU core core dump may fail
XFSZ core core dump may fail
EXAMPLES
Command Description
snice netscape crack +7 Slow down netscape and crack
skill -KILL -v pts/* Kill users on new-style PTY devices
skill -STOP torvalds davem tytso Stop 3 users
snice -17 root bash Give priority to root's shell
SEE ALSO
top(1) kill(1) renice(1) nice(1)
STANDARDS
No standards apply.
AUTHOR
Albert Cahalan <acahalan@cs.uml.edu> wrote skill and snice in 1999 as a replacement for a non-free version. Michael K. Johnson <john-
sonm@redhat.com> is the current maintainer of the procps collection.
Please send bug reports to <procps-list@redhat.com>
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