Show All Running Processes in Linux using ps/htop commands

How do I see all running process in Linux operating systems using command line or GUI options? How can I show all running Processes in Linux operating system?

Introduction: A process is nothing but tasks within the Linux operating system. A process named httpd used to display web pages. Another process named mysqld provides database service. You need to use the ps command. It provides information about the currently running processes, including their process identification numbers (PIDs). Both Linux and UNIX support the ps command to display information about all running process. The ps command gives a snapshot of the current processes. If you want a repetitive update of this status, use top, atop, and htop command as described below.

Linux commands show all running processes

Apart from ps command, you can also use the following commands to display info about processes on Linux operating systems:

1. top command : Display and update sorted information about Linux processes.
2. atop command : Advanced System & Process Monitor for Linux.
3. htop command : Interactive process viewer in Linux.
4. pgrep command : Look up or signal processes based on name and other attributes.
5. pstree command : Display a tree of processes.

How to list process with the ps command

Type the following ps command to display all running process:
# ps -aux | less
OR
# ps aux | less
Where,

• A : Select all processes
• u : Select all processes on a terminal, including those of other users
• x : Select processes without controlling ttys

See every process on the Linux system

Either pass -A or -e option to show all processes on your server/workstation powered by Linux:
# ps -A
# ps -e

How to see every process except those running as root

To negates the selection pass the -N or --deselect option to the ps command:
# ps -U root -u root -N
OR
# ps -U root -u root --deselect

See process run by user vivek

Select by process by effective user ID (EUID) or name by passing username such as vivek:
# ps -u vivek

Linux running processes with top command

The top program provides a dynamic real-time view of a running system. Type the top at command prompt:
# top
Sample outputs:

Fig.01: top command: Display Linux Tasks

To quit press q, for help press h.

How to display a tree of processes

The pstree command shows running processes as a tree. The tree is rooted at either pid or init if pid is omitted. If a user name is specified, all process trees rooted at processes owned by that user are shown.
$ pstree
Sample outputs:

Fig.02: pstree – Display a tree of processes

Print a process tree using ps

# ps -ejH
# ps axjf
Sample outputs:

Manage processes from the Linux terminal

Get info about threads

Type the following command:
# ps -eLf
# ps axms

Task: Get security info

Type the following command:
# ps -eo euser,ruser,suser,fuser,f,comm,label
# ps axZ
# ps -eM

How to save process snapshot to a file

Type the following command:
# top -b -n1 > /tmp/process.log
Or you can email result to yourself:
# top -b -n1 | mail -s 'Process snapshot' you@example.com

How to lookup process by name

Use pgrep command command. It looks through the currently running processes and lists the process IDs which matches the selection criteria to screen. For example, display firefox process id:
$ pgrep firefox
Sample outputs:

3356

Following command will list the process called sshd which is owned by a user called root:
$ pgrep -u root sshd

Say hello to htop and atop

htop is interactive process viewer just like top, but allows to scroll the list vertically and horizontally to see all processes and their full command lines. Tasks related to processes (killing, renicing) can be done without entering their PIDs. To install htop on a Debian/Ubuntu Linux, type the following apt-get command/apt command:
# apt-get install htop
or use the yum command to install htop on a CentOS/RHEL:
# yum install htop
Now type the htop command at the shell prompt:
$ htop
Sample outputs:

Fig.03: htop in action (click to enlarge)

atop program

The program atop is an interactive monitor to view the load on a Linux system. It shows the occupation of the most critical hardware resources (from a performance point of view) on system level, i.e. cpu, memory, disk and network. It also shows which processes are responsible for the indicated load with respect to cpu- and memory load on process level; disk- and network load is only shown per process if a kernel patch has been installed. Type the following command to start atop:
# atop
Sample outputs: