Managing System Processes (Tasks)
This chapter describes the procedures for managing system processes. This is a list of the step-by-step instructions in this chapter.
Commands for Managing System Processes (Overview)
The following table describes the commands for managing system processes.
Table 23-1 Commands for Managing Processes
Command | Man Page | Description |
|---|---|---|
ps, pgrep, prstat | ps(1), pgrep(1), and prstat(1M) | Checks the status of active processes on a system, as well as displays detailed information about the processes |
dispadmin | dispadmin(1M) | Lists default scheduling policies |
priocntl | priocntl(1) | Assigns processes to a priority class and manages process priorities |
nice | nice(1) | Changes the priority of a timesharing process |
psrset | psrset(1M) | Binds specific process groups to a group of processors rather than to just a single processor |
The Solaris Management Console's Processes Tool enables you to manage processes with a user-friendly interface. For information on using and starting the Solaris Management Console, see "Working With the Management Console (Tasks)" in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration.
The ps Command
The ps command enables you to check the status of active processes on a system, as well as display technical information about the processes. This data is useful for such administrative tasks as determining how to set process priorities.
Depending on which options you use, the ps command reports the following information:
Current status of the process
Process ID
Parent process ID
User ID
Scheduling class
Priority
Address of the process
Memory used
CPU time used
The following table describes some fields that are reported by the ps command. Which fields are displayed depend on which option you choose. For a description of all available options, see ps(1).
Table 23-2 Summary of Fields in ps Reports
Field | Description |
|---|---|
UID | The effective user ID of the process's owner. |
PID | The process ID. |
PPID | The parent process ID. |
C | The processor utilization for scheduling. This field is not displayed when the -c option is used. |
CLS | The scheduling class to which the process belongs: real-time, system, or timesharing. This field is included only with the -c option. |
PRI | The kernel thread's scheduling priority. Higher numbers indicate a higher priority. |
NI | The process's nice number, which contributes to its scheduling priority. Making a process "nicer" means lowering its priority. |
ADDR | The address of the proc structure. |
SZ | The virtual address size of the process. |
WCHAN | The address of an event or lock for which the process is sleeping. |
STIME | The starting time of the process (in hours, minutes, and seconds). |
TTY | The terminal from which the process (or its parent) was started. A question mark indicates that there is no controlling terminal. |
TIME | The total amount of CPU time used by the process since it began. |
CMD | The command that generated the process. |
How to List Processes
You can use the ps command to list all the processes on a system.
$ ps [-efc] |
ps | Displays only the processes that are associated with your login session. |
-ef | Displays full information about all the processes that are being executed on the system. |
-c | Displays process scheduler information. |