KILL(1) UNIX Programmer's Manual KILL(1)
kill - terminate a process with extreme prejudice
S
\bSY
\bYN
\bNO
\bOP
\bPS
\bSI
\bIS
\bS
k
\bki
\bil
\bll
\bl [ -
\b-sig ] processid ...
k
\bki
\bil
\bll
\bl -
\b-l
\bl
D
\bDE
\bES
\bSC
\bCR
\bRI
\bIP
\bPT
\bTI
\bIO
\bON
\bN
_
\bK_
\bi_
\bl_
\bl sends the TERM (terminate, 15) signal to the specified
processes. If a signal name or number preceded by `-' is
given as first argument, that signal is sent instead of ter-
minate (see _
\bs_
\bi_
\bg_
\bv_
\be_
\bc(2)). The signal names are listed by
`kill -l', and are as given in /_
\bu_
\bs_
\br/_
\bi_
\bn_
\bc_
\bl_
\bu_
\bd_
\be/_
\bs_
\bi_
\bg_
\bn_
\ba_
\bl._
\bh,
stripped of the common SIG prefix.
The terminate signal will kill processes that do not catch
the signal; `kill -9 ...' is a sure kill, as the KILL (9)
signal cannot be caught. By convention, if process number 0
is specified, all members in the process group (i.e.
processes resulting from the current login) are signaled
(but beware: this works only if you use _
\bs_
\bh(1); not if you
use _
\bc_
\bs_
\bh(1).) Negative process numbers also have special
meanings; see _
\bk_
\bi_
\bl_
\bl(2) for details.
The killed processes must belong to the current user unless
The process number of an asynchronous process started with
`&' is reported by the shell. Process numbers can also be
found by using _
\bp_
\bs(1). _
\bK_
\bi_
\bl_
\bl is a built-in to _
\bc_
\bs_
\bh(1); it
allows job specifiers of the form ``%...'' as arguments so
process id's are not as often used as _
\bk_
\bi_
\bl_
\bl arguments. See
_
\bc_
\bs_
\bh(1) for details.
S
\bSE
\bEE
\bE A
\bAL
\bLS
\bSO
\bO
csh(1), ps(1), kill(2), sigvec(2)
A replacement for ``kill 0'' for _
\bc_
\bs_
\bh(1) users should be pro-
Printed 7/9/88 April 20, 1986 1