Process management

The process is the entity that the operating system uses to control the use of system resources. Threads can control processor-time consumption, but most system management tools still require you to refer to the process in which a thread is running, rather than to the thread itself.

Tools are available to:

• Observe the creation, cancellation, identity, and resource consumption of processes
  • The ps command is used to report process IDs, users, CPU-time consumption, and other attributes.
  • The who -u command reports the shell process ID of logged-on users.
  • The svmon command is used to report process real-memory consumption.
  • The acct command mechanism writes records at process termination summarizing the process's resource use.
• Control the priority level at which a process contends for the CPU.
  • The nice command causes a command to be run with a specified process priority.
  • The renice command changes the priority of a given process.
• Terminate processes that are out of control.
  • The kill command sends a termination signal to one or more processes.