CertiGuide to A+ (A+ 4 Real)  9  Chapter 5: The Linux Operating System       9  Command Line Functions And Administrative Utilities            9  Process Management

ps - Report Process Status 1 top - Show System Activity Information

The pstree command can be used to show the relationships between various processes on the system and gives an excellent visual representation of these relationships:

pstree

Here’s what a sample output looks like:

init-+-bdflush

|-crond

|-cupsd

|-gpm

|-httpd---8*[httpd]

|-kalarmd

|-kdeinit-+-artsd

| |-autorun

| |-3*[kdeinit]

| |-kdeinit---bash---man---sh---sh-+-less

| | `-nroff---groff---grotty

| |-kdeinit---bash

| `-kdeinit---bash---pstree

|-11*[kdeinit]

|-kdeinit---kdesktop_lock

|-kdesud

|-keventd

|-khubd

|-kjournald

|-klogd

|-kmail

|-korgac

|-ksoftirqd_CPU0

|-kswapd

|-kupdated

|-login---bash---startx---xinit-+-X

| `-startkde---kwrapper

|-5*[mingetty]

|-miniserv.pl

|-nmbd---nmbd

|-safe_mysqld---mysqld---mysqld---2*[mysqld]

|-scsi_eh_0

|-sendmail

|-smbd

|-snort

|-sshd

|-syslogd

|-xfs

`-xinetd

ps - Report Process Status 1 top - Show System Activity Information