Ps (Unix)

In most Unix-like operating systems, the ps Command_line program gives a snapshot of the currently running Computer_process, including ps itself.

ps has many options. On operating systems that support the Single_UNIX_Specification standards, ps is commonly run with the options -ef, where -e selects every process and -f chooses the full output format. Another common option on these systems is -l, which specifies the long output format.

Most systems derived from BSD fail to accept the POSIX and UNIX standard options because of historical conflicts (for example, the e or -e option will cause environment variables to be displayed). On such systems, ps is commonly used with the non-standard options aux, where a lists all processes on a Computer_terminal, including those of other users, x lists all processes without controlling terminals and u adds the controlling user for each process. Note that, for maximum compatibility when using this syntax, there is no - in front of the aux .

Another Unix utility named Top_(Unix) provides a real-time view of the running processes.