skill - Unix, Linux Command
NAME
skill, snice - send a signal or report process status
SYNOPSIS
skill [signal to send] [options] process selection criteria snice [new priority] [options] process selection criteria |
DESCRIPTION
These tools are probably obsolete and unportable. The command syntax is poorly defined. Consider using the killall, pkill, and pgrep commands instead.The default signal for skill 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.
The default priority for snice is +4. (snice +4 ...) Priority numbers range from +20 (slowest) to -20 (fastest). Negative priority numbers are restricted to administrative users.
GENERAL OPTIONS
| -f | fast mode | This is not currently useful. |
| -i | interactive use | You will be asked to approve each action. |
| -v | verbose output | Display information about selected processes. |
| -w | warnings enabled | This is not currently useful. |
| -n | no action | This only displays the process ID. |
| -V | show version | Displays version of program. |
PROCESS SELECTION OPTIONS
Selection criteria can be: terminal, user, pid, command. The options below may be used to ensure correct interpretation. Do not blame Albert for this interesting interface.| -t | The next argument is a terminal (tty or pty). |
| -u | The next argument is a username. |
| -p | The next argument is a process ID number. |
| -c | The next argument is a command name. |
SIGNALS
The signals listed below may be available for use with skill. When known, 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 |
EXAMPLES
| Command | Description |
| snice seti crack +7 | Slow down seti and crack |
| skill -KILL -v /dev/pts/* | Kill users on new-style PTY devices |
| skill -STOP viro lm davem | Stop 3 users |
| snice -17 root bash | Give priority to roots shell |
SEE ALSO
STANDARDS
No standards apply.
AUTHOR
Albert Cahalan <[email protected]> wrote skill and snice in 1999 as a replacement for a non-free version, and is the current maintainer of the procps collection. Please send bug reports to <[email protected]>.Advertisements