KILL(1) Linux User's Manual KILL(1)
NAME
kill - send a signal to a process
SYNOPSISkill [ -signal | -s signal ] pid ...
kill [ -L | -V, --version ]
kill -l [ signal ]
DESCRIPTION
The default signal for kill is TERM. Use -l or -L to list available
signals. Particularly useful signals include HUP, INT, KILL, STOP,
CONT, and 0. Alternate signals may be specified in three ways: -9
-SIGKILL -KILL. Negative PID values may be used to choose whole pro-
cess groups; see the PGID column in ps command output. A PID of -1 is
special; it indicates all processes except the kill process itself and
init.
SIGNALS
The signals listed below may be available for use with kill. When
known constant, numbers and default behavior are shown.
Name Num Action Description
0 0 n/a exit code indicates if a signal may be sent
ALRM 14 exit
HUP 1 exit
INT 2 exit
KILL 9 exit this signal may not be blocked
PIPE 13 exit
POLL exit
PROF exit
TERM 15 exit
USR1 exit
USR2 exit
VTALRM exit
STKFLT exit may not be implemented
PWR ignore may exit on some systems
WINCH ignore
CHLD ignore
URG ignore
TSTP stop may interact with the shell
TTIN stop may interact with the shell
TTOU stop may interact with the shell
STOP stop this signal may not be blocked
CONT restart continue if stopped, otherwise ignore
ABRT 6 core
FPE 8 core
ILL 4 core
QUIT 3 core
SEGV 11 core
TRAP 5 core
SYS core may not be implemented
EMT core may not be implemented
BUS core core dump may fail
XCPU core core dump may fail
XFSZ core core dump may fail
USR1 exit
USR2 exit
VTALRM exit
STKFLT exit may not be implemented
PWR ignore may exit on some systems
WINCH ignore
CHLD ignore
URG ignore
TSTP stop may interact with the shell
TTIN stop may interact with the shell
TTOU stop may interact with the shell
STOP stop this signal may not be blocked
CONT restart continue if stopped, otherwise ignore
ABRT 6 core
FPE 8 core
ILL 4 core
QUIT 3 core
SEGV 11 core
TRAP 5 core
SYS core may not be implemented
EMT core may not be implemented
BUS core core dump may fail
XCPU core core dump may fail
XFSZ core core dump may fail
NOTES
Your shell (command line interpreter) may have a built-in kill command.
You may need to run the command described here as /bin/kill to solve
the conflict.
EXAMPLESkill -9 -1
Kill all processes you can kill.
kill -l 11
Translate number 11 into a signal name.
kill -L
List the available signal choices in a nice table.
kill 123 543 2341 3453
Send the default signal, SIGTERM, to all those processes.
SEE ALSOpkill(1), skill(1), kill(2), renice(1), nice(1), signal(7), killall(1).
STANDARDS
This command meets appropriate standards. The -L flag is Linux-spe-
cific.
AUTHOR
Albert Cahalan <albert@users.sf.net> wrote kill in 1999 to replace a
bsdutils one that was not standards compliant. The util-linux one might
also work correctly.
Please send bug reports to <procps-feedback@lists.sf.net>
Linux November 21, 1999 KILL(1)