LINUX COMMAND ATLAS · COMMAND GUIDE

Linux ps command

Show a snapshot of processes. This format lists processes for all users.

procps-ng

Syntax

Command form

ps [OPTION]...

6 options

Option	What it does
`-e, -A`	Select all processes.
`-f`	Use full-format listing.
`-u USER`	Select processes for USER and show user-oriented format.
`-p PIDLIST`	Select processes by process ID.
`--sort=KEY`	Sort output by a process field (implementation-specific keys).
`aux / -ef`	Common BSD-style / UNIX-style process listings.

3 examples

Show a snapshot of processes. This format lists processes for all users.

ps aux

Show processes ordered by memory use.

ps aux --sort=-%mem | head

Show selected fields for process 1234.

ps -p 1234 -o pid,ppid,stat,cmd

ps has several option dialects. Do not combine BSD-style aux with a leading dash unless your implementation documents that form.