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Linux Terminal Process Termination Methods

Effacing an active process can be necessary at times. Here, we'll demonstrate a straightforward method to accomplish this using the terminal.

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3 min read
Terminating processes made simple through the terminal: A step-by-step guide for when things go...
Terminating processes made simple through the terminal: A step-by-step guide for when things go awry.

Linux Terminal Process Termination Methods

Taking a gander at various techniques to handle processes and chuck 'em out in your Linux machine, let's dive right in! A process could be an application or script running on your system. Sometimes one becomes a memory hog or crashes, and that's when we need to intervene and nix it. Here are some trusty tools to do the job.

As you're getting familiar with these commands, bear in mind not to terminate a process that'll leave you high and dry with lost work. Opt for an application that's not currently in use on your machine as practice targets.

These commands will work on most Linux operating systems, including a Raspberry Pi. To open a terminal window on your Linux machine, press .

Killing a Specific Application: The Manual Way

First off, let's unleash a software application in the system GUI and then, in the terminal, employ the command to axe it. We've used Inkscape, a free and open-source vector graphics package for this example, but feel free to use any application you've got at hand, as long as it's not essential to you at the moment.

The command dispatches a signal to all processes connected to the named application. Later on, we'll guide you on using the command to target specific processes.

  1. Launch Inkscape (or another test application) from the system GUI.
  2. In the terminal, Type and then the name of the application (e.g., ). You should swiftly witness the application shut down when this command is invoked.

Bringing Out the Big Guns: Use to Slay 'em All

Often, applications spawn multiple processes, so it's beneficial to figure out which one's causing the trouble. For example, it could be a browser window instead of the entire Chrome or Firefox app. With this, you can close the problematic process while leaving the rest of the application running. We'll employ the tool in the terminal to spot, interact, and hack down rogue processes.

  1. Fire up in the terminal. You'll see the terminal fill up with information about all the processes and their status. The second line of the screen displays the total number of tasks, current and otherwise (sleeping, stopped, or zombie status). Below this, you'll see a list of processes, with the information refreshing every three seconds by default.
  2. Press to constrain the current processes list to those currently active. This makes the list more manageable if you're only interested in currently running processes.
  3. Press to liven up with a splash of color. Since it's a text-based interface, adding color makes it easier to interpret labels and data.
  4. Launch Inkscape (or another non-essential application).
  5. Spot the listing for the application and jot down the PID. The PID (process ID) is the number assigned to identify the process, and they're listed in the first column of the output. In our example, the PID for Inkscape was , but it'll differ each time Inkscape is run.
  6. Press and then enter the PID number to eliminate the process.
  7. Press to confirm the request to kill the process.
  8. Press to ditch and return to the terminal emulator. You'll frequently want to peek at for a glimpse at the processes and then get back to the terminal.

Starring in Your Very Own "Die Hard" Sequel: Pinpoint and Slay Specific Processes

Sometimes you might need to kill an individual process outside of . With the PID number discovered via in combination with the command, you can do the deed. Keep in mind that the command we used earlier won't work with an individual PID.

  1. Launch Inkscape (or another application), making sure you're not working in it.
  2. Fire up in the terminal, play some tunes (press and ), and follow the tip above to spot the PID.
  3. Exit by pressing .
  4. Use the command and the PID number to hack down the Inkscape process from the terminal emulator. Replace the example PID value below with your own identified PID.

Managing processes turns out to be a valuable Linux skill. Don't forget to practice these techniques before the need arises!

Enrichment Data

  • Identifying Processes with the Command
  • Use to get a detailed report of all running processes on the system, with detailed information about CPU and memory usage.
  • Filter the output using to spare you the pain of scrolling through the numerous lines.
  • Killing a Process with the Command
  • You can forcefully terminate a process by employing . Be wary when forcefully terminating, as it may lead to data loss in certain situations.

Data-and-cloud-computing technology can be applied in managing Linux processes by utilizing commands such as and . The command dispatches a signal to all processes connected to the named application, like Inkscape. Conversely, the tool helps identify rogue processes and allows you to target and terminate specific ones using the PID (process ID). For instance, to terminate a specific Inkscape process using the PID (let's say 4567) with the command, you would type .

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