2025-01-27
killSends a signal to a process, instructing it to terminate. By default, it sends the TERM signal (signal 15), which asks the process to gracefully shut down. The user can also specify different signals if needed.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
kill <PID> |
Terminates the process with the given Process ID (PID). |
kill -9 <PID> |
Forcefully terminates the process, even if it doesn’t respond to the TERM signal. |
kill -15 <PID> |
Sends the TERM signal explicitly (same as default). |
kill -l |
Lists all available signal names. |
kill -<signal> <PID> |
Terminates the process with a specified signal (e.g.,
kill -HUP <PID>). |
pkillSends a signal to processes based on their name or other attributes.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
pkill <name> |
Kills processes by name (e.g., pkill firefox). |
pkill -9 <name> |
Forcefully terminates processes by name. |
pkill -f <pattern> |
Kills processes whose command line contains a given pattern. |
pkill -u <user> |
Terminates all processes belonging to a specific user. |
pkill -l |
Lists available signals. |
pkill -<signal> <name> |
Terminates processes with a specified signal (e.g.,
pkill -HUP firefox). |