KILL(1)                    Linux Programmer`s Manual                 KILL(1)



NAME
       kill - terminate a process

SYNOPSIS
       kill [ -s signal | -p ] [ -a ] [ -- ] pid ...
       kill -l [ signal ]

DESCRIPTION
       The command kill sends the specified signal to the specified process or
       process group.  If no signal is specified, the  TERM  signal  is  sent.
       The  TERM  signal  will  kill processes which do not catch this signal.
       For other processes, it may be necessary to use the  KILL  (9)  signal,
       since this signal cannot be caught.

       Most  modern  shells  have a builtin kill function, with a usage rather
       similar to that of the  command  described  here.  The  `-a`  and  `-p`
       options, and the possibility to specify pids by command name is a local
       extension.

OPTIONS
       pid... Specify the list of processes that kill should signal.  Each pid
              can be one of five things:


              n      where n is larger than 0.  The process with pid n will be
                     signaled.

              0      All processes in the current process group are  signaled.

              -1     All processes with pid larger than 1 will be signaled.

              -n     where n is larger than 1.  All processes in process group
                     n are signaled.  When an argument of  the  form  `-n`  is
                     given,  and it is meant to denote a process group, either
                     the signal must be specified first, or the argument  must
                     be  preceded by a `--` option, otherwise it will be taken
                     as the signal to send.

              commandname
                     All processes invoked using that name will be signaled.

       -s signal
              Specify the signal to send.  The signal may be given as a signal
              name or number.

       -l     Print   a   list   of   signal   names.    These  are  found  in
              /usr/include/linux/signal.h

       -a     Do not restrict the commandname-to-pid conversion  to  processes
              with the same uid as the present process.

       -p     Specify  that kill should only print the process id (pid) of the
              named processes, and not send any signals.

SEE ALSO
       bash(1), tcsh(1), kill(2), sigvec(2), signal(7)

AUTHOR
       Taken from BSD 4.4.  The ability to translate process names to  process
       ids was added by Salvatore Valente (svalente@mit.edu).



Linux Utilities                 14 October 1994                        KILL(1)