Chapter 6: Managing Processes

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration

Objectives
Define processes as used by the Linux kernel View and control running processes using command-line and graphical utilities Understand and manage how memory is used by Linux processes Schedule delayed execution of processes

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration

Defining Processes
Should be familiar with process definition to better understand
How Linux operates How to manage its resources

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration

The Linux Multitasking Model

Process
Program running on system Started from:
Command line Graphical desktop Kernel itself Another process

Kernel maintains information about processes

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The Linux Multitasking Model (continued)

Linux is multitasking operating system Single microprocessor can really only perform one task at a time Time slice
A few microseconds Allocated to each process by kernel Common to all operating systems that dont have multiple microprocessors

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration

Creating Processes
Kernel starts process called init
When Linux first started Every process running on Linux is descendant of init process

Process id (PID)
Unique number identifying process within Linux kernel

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Creating Processes (continued)

Fork
Create new process in Linux

Exit
When process ends Information about process that kernel was maintaining discarded Resources that kernel had allocated to process released

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration

Process States
Running Sleeping Stopped Zombie

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration

Swap Space
Used when system runs out of RAM for currently running programs Separate hard disk partition called swap partition Also called virtual memory Acts like extension of systems RAM Swapped-out process cannot run until swapped again

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Swap Space (continued)

Thrashing
Kernel spends so much time moving processes to and from swap space that kernel and processes bog down and work inefficiently

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Managing Linux Processes

View information about Linux processes Control status of processes

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Starting Processes from the Shell

When you start program
Program takes control of command line Parent process pauses to wait for new process to finish

Type ampersand (&) after name of command

Shell forks new process without pausing itself Called placing process in background Can start another command immediately

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Starting Processes from the Shell (continued)

Job
Process associated with shell

jobs command
Lists all jobs or processes running as descendants of current shell
Also called child processes

Ctrl+Z key combination

Suspend job that shell is running

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Starting Processes from the Shell (continued)

bg command
Run suspended program in background

fg command
Place suspended job in foreground Must specify:
Job number using % Or PID

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Starting Processes from the Shell (continued)

Virtual console
One type of login screen Start multiple text-based login sessions on same computer Assigned to function keys, typically F1 through F6 Logged in using text-mode console instead of graphical login screen
Start working in first virtual console

Alt+F2
Access second virtual console
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Learning about Processes via the Command Line

ps command
Lists processes currently running on system Output:
PID Terminal that process is using for output CPU time that process has used so far Command that started process

a and x options show

Processes started by all users Processes started by system at boot time Other processes that have no controlling terminal
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Learning about Processes via the Command Line (continued)

Daemon
Background process Doesnt have any screen output but waits for certain system activity then acts on it

ps command
u option shows how each process is using system f option
Displays relationship between different processes Shows which processes start other processes Processes presented in tree diagram
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Learning about Processes via the Command Line (continued)

Administrators track how processes consume system resources, particularly:
CPU time Memory

%CPU field
Compares amount of CPU time used by process with total time elapsed since previous computation of %CPU field Form of percentage
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Learning about Processes via the Command Line (continued)

%CPU field
Does not show average amount of CPU time used by process since it was started

%WCPU field
Weighted to show 30-second average of percentage of CPU time used by process Helpful for showing overall usage pattern

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Learning about Processes via the Command Line (continued)

TIME field
Provides cumulative measure of amount of CPU time consumed by process

/proc file system

Collection of information about Linux kernel Accessed as if it were data files stored in subdirectories of /proc Need PID to access information Accessed using /proc/PID
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Learning about Processes via the Command Line (continued)

top utility
Displays list of running processes Arranged by how much CPU time each is using Process consuming greatest amount of CPU time shown at top of list Updated regularly Normally started without any options Cannot run in background

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Learning about Processes via the Command Line (continued)

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Controlling Processes
kill command
Controls any process Sends signals to processes -l option views all signals Examples:
kill -9 1482 kill -SIGTERM 1482

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Controlling Processes (continued)

Signals
Messages sent between processes About 30 different signals available Has name and number associated with it Software developer decides to which signals program responds

SIGTERM signal
Number 15 Requests that program end Almost all programs respond
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Controlling Processes (continued)

SIGKILL signal
Number 9 Handled by Linux kernel Shuts down indicated process Unsaved data in program lost

Renegade program virtually never crashes Linux kernel

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Controlling Processes (continued)

killall command
Sends signal to all processes started by given command Useful when program makes copies of itself faster than you can locate PIDs and use kill to shut them down

Each process assigned priority determines how much CPU time granted to process Normally all processes have same priority
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Controlling Processes (continued)

Nice level
Another name for process priority Standard level is 0 Highest level 20 System administrator can make any process nicer User can raise nice level of process that he or she started

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Controlling Processes (continued)

Alter process priority
nice command
nice -5 analyze

renice command
renice +10 1776

Can issue nice and renice while top running

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Controlling Processes (continued)

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Using Graphical Process Management Tools

KDE System Guard utility
Graphically displays process list Interact with list to rearrange or kill processes

GNOME System Monitor

Manage processes graphically

Gkrellm
View system status information on desktop continuously

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Using Graphical Process Management Tools (continued)

Manage Linux system effectively
Keep CPU load monitor visible on Panel Check for processes that might need attention

Reduce CPU load

Raise nice level of numerous user processes
Are not all competing at same level

Add second microprocessor Move some tasks to different computer Add memory
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Managing Memory
Other key system resources
Physical memory (RAM) Virtual memory (swap space)

More RAM always leads to better performance on busy system

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Understanding Shared Libraries

Library
Contains prewritten functionality that any program can use Statically linked applications
Include library functions in main program

Dynamically linked applications

Assume that needed library files are available on Linux system Use shared libraries

ldd command
Lists all libraries that program requires
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Understanding Paged Memory

Information transferred to and from swap space in units known as pages Page of memory
Block of 4 KB of RAM

Kernel keeps track of which pages of memory are moved to swap space

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Tracking Memory Usage

Free command
Displays information about both RAM and virtual memory All information displayed is in kilobytes

Buffer
Memory used by application for data storage

Several fields of ps command output also provide information about memory usage

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Viewing Virtual Memory Information

vmstat command
View detailed information about how swap space is being used Displayed information based on information averaged over time since system was started Can also run to be continuously updated
Like top

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Scheduling Processes
at command
Define one or more commands to be executed at some future time Command relies on background process called atd

crontab command
Define one or more commands to be executed repeatedly at intervals that you designate Relies on background process called crond
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Automating One-Time Tasks

Using at command enter commands
Directly at command line
at now + 5 hours

Or listed in file
at -f <filename> <time specification>

atd daemon checks once per minute for any jobs that scheduled using at command Output of commands e-mailed to user

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Automating One-Time Tasks (continued)

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Automating One-Time Tasks (continued)

tty command
Sends output from command to terminal in which you are currently logged in

batch command
Similar to at Runs commands when system load average drops below 0.8

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Automating Recurring Tasks

Use crontab command
To execute commands at regular intervals

Red Hat Linux

/etc directory contains subdirectories named cron.Hourly, cron.Daily, cron.Weekly, and cron.Monthly Place file subdirectory Commands in file executed hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly
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Automating Recurring Tasks (continued)

Every Linux system should include /etc/crontab file
Illustrates format of standard entry for crontab command

crontab specification begins with five fields that identify time

All five fields must match current time and date for command to execute

Cannot enter cron job commands interactively

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Managing Automated Tasks

Daemons atd and crond started when Linux booted Commands submit using at or crontab stored in subdirectory of /var/spool atq and atrm commands
Manage at jobs awaiting execution atq command lists all queued at jobs

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Managing Automated Tasks (continued)

atrm command
Cancel command submitted using at Can also use -d option with at command Must include job number

Use similar set of commands to manage cron jobs

Options to crontab command

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Controlling Access to at and crontab

Default settings allow any user to submit commands using either at or crontab Can restrict access to only certain users

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Summary
Linux is a multiprocessing operating system New processes are created by forking existing process ps command displays many different fields of information about each process kill command sends signals to processes or to Linux kernel to end process

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Summary (continued)
Each process in Linux assigned priority
Called nice level

top command lists processes according to how much CPU time they are using free and vmstat commands display information about RAM and virtual memory usage

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Summary (continued)
at command schedules task for execution by atd at future point batch command accepts tasks for future execution without fixed time crontab command schedules tasks to be executed on regular basis

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