Overview
Managing and processing processes.
Managing jobs.
Exiting/quitting when jobs have been stopped.
Managing and Processing Processes
Every running program is a separate entity, called a
process.
A process consists of several components working together,
including the code, data, CPU activity, memory, input,
output, and error handling.
Managing and Processing Processes
Each process involves reading instructions, accessing
computer memory, reading from input, evaluating
arguments, performing calculations, and writing to output.
Every process on the system has its own unique process ID
number.
Managing and Processing Processes
Obtaining detailed information on system processes.
Identifying processes connected to a terminal.
Starting a new shell process.
Obtaining detailed data about user processes.
Genealogy of processes.
Ending foreground processes.
Ending background processes.
Terminating a process that is not responding.
Managing and Processing Processes
Obtaining Detailed Information on System Processes
The “ps –aux” and the “ps –ef” commands can be used to
get a list of all processes currently running on the system.
The “ps –u $USER” command can be used to list only the
processes owned by a particular user.
The “ps –u root” command can be used to list the processes
that are started when the system is booted up, and that are
owned by the root user.
Identifying Processes Connected to a Terminal
User processes must be informed of the port to which they
are attached.
The “tty” command can be used to determine the terminal
port used by a user.
The “ps –t port” command can be used to display the
running processes, the shell, a process running sleep, and
the process running the ps utility.
Identifying Processes Connected to a Terminal
PID – The PID, called the Process IDentification number, is a
unique number assigned to each process when it gets
created.
CPU – It refers to the CPU time consumed by a process.
CMD – The command mode contains the names of the
utilities associated with each running process.
Starting a New Shell Process
The “sh” command is used to start a child shell.
The “echo $$” command can be used to obtain the PID of
the current shell.
The “exit” command or the CTRL-D keys can be used to exit
the child shell.
Obtaining Detailed Data about User Processes
Flags (F) – This field contains a number indicating the Flags or
options set for a process.
State (S) – It indicates the state of the process, which includes
sleeping (S), running (R), idle (I), and traced (T).
Size (SZ) – It contains a number indicating the size of the
process in memory.
Command (CMD) – It refers to the actual command being run
by the process.
Genealogy of Processes
Processes inherit data from their parent process.
Every utility or executable file name that is typed is
executed by a process that is a child of the shell process.
The child process inherits data such as tty, user ID, and the
current directory from the parent process.
Ending Foreground Processes
The “stty –a” command can be used to display the settings
for a system.
The “echo $?” and the “echo $status” commands can be
used to ask for the exit status sent by the process running
sleep to the shell.
The “echo $?” command is used by the sh and the recent
csh family shells.
Ending Foreground Processes
The “echo $status” command is used by the older csh
family of shells.
The CTRL-D key is used to mark the end-of-file character,
while the CTRL-C key is used to interrupt a process.
The CTRL-D key displays an output, but the CTRL-C does
not generate any output.
Ending Foreground Processes
The keyboard signal “quit” can be used to stop a
foreground process.
The “CTRL-\” keys can also be used to quit a process.
The quit signal destroys the process and sometimes makes
a copy of the CPU memory associated with the process at
the time of exit. The copy is called a core file.
Ending Background Processes
The “kill” command can be used to terminate a process
running in the background.
The command requires the PID of the process as the
second argument.
The “kill –l” command can be used to list all the kill signals
available for the current system.
Terminating a Process that is not Responding
The following tasks should be carried out to terminate a
process:
A new terminal should be started.
The current terminal port should be identified at the new
login or terminal.
All the processes should be listed.
The PID of the particular process should be identified and
the ‘kill’ command should be used to terminate it.
Managing Jobs
A command-line that instructs the shell to start several
processes with the output from the first connecting to the
second and so on, is called a job.
All modern shells allow users to start, suspend, make
active, and kill the processes associated with a job.
Suspending a Job
The “stty –a” command is used to describe a list of CTRL
key settings used by the terminal and the shell for
communication.
The CTRL-Z key is used to suspend a job.
The suspended job does not use the system memory.
The “fg” command is used to bring the last suspended job
into the foreground.
Suspending a Job
The “jobs” program lists all background and suspended jobs
and their status.
The “jobs” command is a shell built-in command.
A job’s output is divided into four columns – the job
number, the order, the status, and the command being
executed.
Identifying the Most Recent Job
The “fg %+” is used to bring the most recently suspended
job to the foreground.
The “fg %-” is used to bring the second most recently
suspended job to the foreground.
Identifying the Most Recent Job
The job number can also be used to get a job to the
foreground.
For example, “fg %2”, where %2 specifies the job with the
job number 2.
The job name can also be used to get a job to the
foreground.
Killing a Job
The “kill %+” command is used to kill the most recent job in
the job list.
The job number can also be passed as an argument to kill that
particular job.
The job name can also be passed as an argument to kill a job.
Care should be taken while killing a job. We must not kill
wrong jobs.
Exiting/Quitting When Jobs Have Been Stopped
Job control is a very useful method of managing processes.
UNIX job control provides a method of warning the users of
stopped or running background jobs when an attempt is
made to log out or exit a process.
It logs out without warning when we issue the same
command again, resulting in loss of unsaved data.
Summary
Programs running in a system are executed by a process
that reads the appropriate code and accomplishes the
tasks.
All the processes have their own unique PID, the PID of their
parent, an owner, group, memory, code, input, output,
error, and their tty port.