pgrep(1) General Commands Manual pgrep(1)
NAME
pgrep, pkill - search or kill processes based on process name and attributes
SYNOPSIS
dlim] etimelist] pgrplist] grouplist] ppidlist] prmgrplist] sidlist] statelist] termlist] userlist] ruserlist] vszlist] psetlist] [pattern]
etimelist] pgrplist] grouplist] ppidlist] prmgrplist] sidlist] statelist] termlist] userlist] ruserlist] vszlist] psetlist] [pattern]
DESCRIPTION
searches for processes having attributes matching the selection criteria specified by its arguments. The process ID numbers of the matched
processes are printed, separated by a delimiter, the default being the newline. Each attribute option can take multiple values separated
by comma. will select those processes that match all the attribute options specified. If an attribute option has multiple values, then
the process needs to match one of the values.
For example:
matches processes having effective user ID OR AND real group ID OR
selects processes similar to but instead of printing the process ID numbers, it signals the matched processes. The user can specify the
signal to be sent to the matched process as the first argument to By default is assumed.
Options
The following options can be used to specify processes to be selected.
Specifies the signal to be sent to each matched process
If no signal is specified, is sent by default. The value of signal follows the same syntax as that of the command; see
kill(1). This option, if specified, should be the first argument to
Specifies the delimiter to be used while printing the matched entries
only). The default delimiter is a newline.
Selects processes whose elapsed time matches the time limits specified in
timelist. This time limit can be specified as given below:
which will be interpreted as elapsed time than time1 and than time2. If the argument is only time, then is assumed. The
syntax for specifying time is:
D:H:m:s
for D days, H hours, m minutes and s seconds. If one of the fields is empty, then 0 is assumed for that field.
For example:
will be interpreted as elapsed time greater than 300 seconds, and
will be interpreted as elapsed time (greater than 30 minutes and 10 seconds AND less than 2 days, specified by 'el'2) OR
(greater than 3 days) OR (less than 10 seconds, specified by 'el'10).
Perform pattern matching on the entire command line rather than
the command name.
Select processes whose real group ID numbers or group names are given in
grouplist.
Select processes whose process group ID numbers are given in
pgrplist.
Long listing only). Print the command name along with the PID. If used with the option, the command line argument is printed instead of
command name.
Select the most recently created process matching the criteria.
This option is mutually exclusive with the option.
Select the oldest process matching the criteria.
This option is mutually exclusive with the option.
Select processes whose parent process ID numbers are given in
ppidlist.
Select processes belonging to PRM process resource groups whose
names or ID numbers are given in prmgrplist. See
Selects processes whose current state is given in the
statelist. The values for statelist can be:
Running
Sleeping
Stopped
Zombie
Select processes whose session ID numbers are given in
sidlist.
Select processes associated with the terminals given in
termlist. Terminal identifiers can be specified in one of two forms:
o the device's file name (such as or
o if the device's file name starts with just the rest of it (such as
If the device's file is in a directory other than or the terminal identifier must include the name of the directory under
that contains the device file (such as
Select processes whose real user ID numbers or login names
are given in ruserlist.
Select processes whose real user ID numbers or login names are given in
userlist.
Reverse selection.
Select processes that do not meet the matching criteria.
Perform an exact match of the pattern string.
Select processes whose processor set IDs are given in
psetlist.
Selects processes whose virtual size matches the size limits specified in
sizelist. The syntax for specifying size limit is as given below:
which will be interpreted as virtual size in kilobytes than lowerlimit and than upperlimit. If the argument is only limit
then is assumed.
Operands
pattern Expression (ERE) pattern to match against either the basename or full process argument string. See regexp(5) for a complete
description of the ERE syntax.
EXTERNAL INFLUENCES
Environment Variables
If is not specified or is null, it defaults to (see lang(5)).
RETURN VALUE
and exits with one of the following values:
One or more processes matched the criteria.
No process matched the criteria.
Syntax error in command line.
Other errors
EXAMPLES
Print PID of the cron daemon:
Send signal to
Print PIDs of telnet sessions that are active for more than 2 days:
WARNINGS
Process information can change while or is running; the picture it gives is only a snapshot in time.
With the option, and matches only up to the initial 1020 bytes of command line with the pattern string.
and will not match itself.
DEPENDENCIES
HP Process Resource Manager
The option require the optional HP Process Resource Manager (PRM) software to be installed and configured. See prmconfig(1) for a descrip-
tion of how to configure HP PRM, and prmconf(4) for the definition of
If HP PRM is not installed and configured and is specified, or fails with error message.
FILES
Directory of terminal device files.
SEE ALSO
kill(1), ps(1), ptree(1).
HP Process Resource Manager: prmconfig(1), prmconf(4) in
pgrep(1)
