| Command | What |
|---|---|
ps aux |
All processes, BSD style |
ps -ef |
All processes, System V style |
top / htop |
Interactive process view (htop is friendlier) |
pgrep <name> |
Find PIDs by name |
pkill <name> |
Kill processes by name |
kill -SIGTERM <pid> |
Graceful kill (default) |
kill -SIGKILL <pid> (or kill -9) |
Force kill, no cleanup |
nohup <cmd> & |
Run command immune to hangup, in background |
Signals worth knowing:
SIGTERM (15)— please stop, allows cleanupSIGKILL (9)— die now, no cleanup possibleSIGHUP (1)— reload config, often used by daemonsSIGINT (2)— interrupt (Ctrl+C)SIGSTOP / SIGCONT— pause/resume