I'm a newb so please be kind. I'm trying to write a script to check the status of a program running on a vncserver to know whether or not it has ended and if I need to restart the server. Here's what I've got and please I am a self taught scripter:

if [ ps ax | grep xterm | awk '{print $5}' = "xterm" ] then
serv-restart
fi

I've been searching and am not quite sure how to make work. Any hints or pointers is extremely appreciated.

You can try :

if ps -ef | grep -q 'pattern_to_srch'
then
 echo "Available,";
else
 echo "Not available,  do retsart"
...restart logic...
fi

pgrep can be your friend on Linux

preliminary result are the pgrep will work perfectly. just have to do some testing. will let you know.