kill - terminate a process
#man kill
kill [-s signal|-p] [-q sigval] [-a] [--] pid...
kill -l [signal]
kill
Sends a signal to a process, usually related to stopping the process.
All signals except for SIGKILL and SIGSTOP can be intercepted by the process to perform a clean exit.
- Terminate a program using the default SIGTERM (terminate) signal:
kill process_id
- List available signal names (to be used without the SIG prefix):
kill -l
- Terminate a program using the SIGHUP (hang up) signal. Many daemons will reload instead of terminating:
kill -1|HUP process_id
- Terminate a program using the SIGINT (interrupt) signal. This is typically initiated by the user pressing Ctrl + C:
kill -2|INT process_id
- Signal the operating system to immediately terminate a program (which gets no chance to capture the signal):
kill -9|KILL process_id
- Signal the operating system to pause a program until a SIGCONT ("continue") signal is received:
kill -17|STOP process_id
- Send a SIGUSR1 signal to all processes with the given GID (group id):
kill -SIGUSR1 -group_id