Learn how to manage and monitor Linux processes. Process signals, priorities, and monitoring tools.

Process Management and Monitoring in Linux

Process management is essential for Linux administration. This guide covers process control and monitoring.

Process Commands#

# List processes
ps aux
ps -ef

# Real-time monitoring
top
htop

# Process tree
pstree

# Find process by name
pgrep nginx
pidof nginx

Process Signals#

# Send signal
kill -SIGTERM 1234
kill -9 1234  # Force kill

# Kill by name
pkill nginx
killall nginx

# Graceful shutdown
kill -SIGTERM $(pidof nginx)

Process Priorities#

# Change priority
nice -n 10 command
renice 10 -p 1234

# Real-time priority
chrt -f 50 command

Background Processes#

# Run in background
command &

# Bring to foreground
fg

# Detach with nohup
nohup command &

# Use screen/tmux
screen -S session
tmux new -s session

Monitoring#

# Process resources
ps aux --sort=-%mem
ps aux --sort=-%cpu

# System resources
vmstat 1
iostat 1

Conclusion#

Manage processes using ps, kill, and nice. Monitor with top, htop, and system monitoring tools.

Production Notes 1#

For Process Management and Monitoring in Linux, define pre-deploy checks, rollout gates, and rollback triggers before release. Track p95 latency, error rate, and cost per request for at least 24 hours after deployment. If the trend regresses from baseline, revert quickly and document the decision in the runbook.

Keep the operating model simple under pressure: one owner per change, one decision channel, and clear stop conditions. Review alert quality regularly to remove noise and ensure on-call engineers can distinguish urgent failures from routine variance.

Repeatability is the goal. Convert successful interventions into standard operating procedures and version them in the repository so future responders can execute the same flow without ambiguity.

Production Notes 2#

For Process Management and Monitoring in Linux, define pre-deploy checks, rollout gates, and rollback triggers before release. Track p95 latency, error rate, and cost per request for at least 24 hours after deployment. If the trend regresses from baseline, revert quickly and document the decision in the runbook.

Keep the operating model simple under pressure: one owner per change, one decision channel, and clear stop conditions. Review alert quality regularly to remove noise and ensure on-call engineers can distinguish urgent failures from routine variance.

Repeatability is the goal. Convert successful interventions into standard operating procedures and version them in the repository so future responders can execute the same flow without ambiguity.

Production Notes 3#

For Process Management and Monitoring in Linux, define pre-deploy checks, rollout gates, and rollback triggers before release. Track p95 latency, error rate, and cost per request for at least 24 hours after deployment. If the trend regresses from baseline, revert quickly and document the decision in the runbook.

Keep the operating model simple under pressure: one owner per change, one decision channel, and clear stop conditions. Review alert quality regularly to remove noise and ensure on-call engineers can distinguish urgent failures from routine variance.

Repeatability is the goal. Convert successful interventions into standard operating procedures and version them in the repository so future responders can execute the same flow without ambiguity.

Production Notes 4#

For Process Management and Monitoring in Linux, define pre-deploy checks, rollout gates, and rollback triggers before release. Track p95 latency, error rate, and cost per request for at least 24 hours after deployment. If the trend regresses from baseline, revert quickly and document the decision in the runbook.

Keep the operating model simple under pressure: one owner per change, one decision channel, and clear stop conditions. Review alert quality regularly to remove noise and ensure on-call engineers can distinguish urgent failures from routine variance.

Repeatability is the goal. Convert successful interventions into standard operating procedures and version them in the repository so future responders can execute the same flow without ambiguity.