KILL

Section: User Commands (1)
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BSD mandoc
 

NAME

kill - terminate or signal a process  

SYNOPSIS

[-s signal_name ] pid ...
-l [exit_status ]
-signal_name pid ...
-signal_number pid ...  

DESCRIPTION

The kill utility sends a signal to the processes specified by the pid operand(s).

Only the super-user may send signals to other users' processes.

The options are as follows:

-s signal_name
A symbolic signal name specifying the signal to be sent instead of the default TERM
-l [exit_status ]
If no operand is given, list the signal names; otherwise, write the signal name corresponding to exit_status
-signal_name
A symbolic signal name specifying the signal to be sent instead of the default TERM
-signal_number
A non-negative decimal integer, specifying the signal to be sent instead of the default TERM

The following pids have special meanings:

-1
If superuser, broadcast the signal to all processes; otherwise broadcast to all processes belonging to the user.

Some of the more commonly used signals:

1
HUP (hang up)
2
INT (interrupt)
3
QUIT (quit)
6
ABRT (abort)
9
KILL (non-catchable, non-ignorable kill)
14
ALRM (alarm clock)
15
TERM (software termination signal)

is a built-in to csh(1); it allows job specifiers of the form ``%...'' as arguments so process id's are not as often used as arguments. See csh(1) for details.  

SEE ALSO

csh(1), ps(1), kill(2), sigaction(2)  

STANDARDS

The function is expected to be St -p1003.2 compatible.  

HISTORY

A command appeared in AT&T System v6 .  

BUGS

A replacement for the command ``kill 0 '' for csh(1) users should be provided.


 

Index

NAME
SYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION
SEE ALSO
STANDARDS
HISTORY
BUGS

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Time: 04:29:39 GMT, April 24, 2025