xref: /freebsd/bin/kill/kill.1 (revision d6c2d4fe975c70975bdc6bec76d044408f6dcb8c)

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.Dd October 3, 2016
.Dt KILL 1
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm kill
.Nd terminate or signal a process
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm
.Op Fl s Ar signal_name
.Ar pid ...
.Nm
.Fl l
.Op Ar exit_status
.Nm
.Fl Ar signal_name
.Ar pid ...
.Nm
.Fl Ar signal_number
.Ar pid ...
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm
utility sends a signal to the processes specified by the
.Ar pid
operands.
.Pp
Only the super-user may send signals to other users' processes.
.Pp
The options are as follows:
.Bl -tag -width indent
.It Fl s Ar signal_name
A symbolic signal name specifying the signal to be sent instead of the
default
.Dv TERM .
.It Fl l Op Ar exit_status
If no operand is given, list the signal names; otherwise, write
the signal name corresponding to
.Ar exit_status .
.It Fl Ar signal_name
A symbolic signal name specifying the signal to be sent instead of the
default
.Dv TERM .
.It Fl Ar signal_number
A non-negative decimal integer, specifying the signal to be sent instead
of the default
.Dv TERM .
.El
.Pp
The following PIDs have special meanings:
.Bl -tag -width indent
.It 0
The signal is sent to all processes whose group ID is equal to the process
group ID of the sender, and for which the process has permission.
.It -1
If superuser, broadcast the signal to all processes; otherwise broadcast
to all processes belonging to the user.
.It - Ns Ar PGID
The signal is sent to all processes that belong to the specified
process group ID (PGID).
.El
.Pp
Some of the more commonly used signals:
.Pp
.Bl -tag -width indent -compact
.It 1
HUP (hang up)
.It 2
INT (interrupt)
.It 3
QUIT (quit)
.It 6
ABRT (abort)
.It 9
KILL (non-catchable, non-ignorable kill)
.It 14
ALRM (alarm clock)
.It 15
TERM (software termination signal)
.El
.Pp
Some shells may provide a builtin
.Nm
command which is similar or identical to this utility.
Consult the
.Xr builtin 1
manual page.
.Sh EXIT STATUS
.Ex -std
.Sh EXAMPLES
Terminate
the processes with PIDs 142 and 157:
.Pp
.Dl "kill 142 157"
.Pp
Send the hangup signal
.Pq Dv SIGHUP
to the process with PID 507:
.Pp
.Dl "kill -s HUP 507"
.Pp
Terminate the process group with PGID 117:
.Pp
.Dl "kill -- -117"
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr builtin 1 ,
.Xr csh 1 ,
.Xr killall 1 ,
.Xr ps 1 ,
.Xr sh 1 ,
.Xr kill 2 ,
.Xr sigaction 2
.Sh STANDARDS
The
.Nm
utility is expected to be
.St -p1003.2
compatible.
.Sh HISTORY
A
.Nm
command appeared in
.At v3
in section 8 of the manual.
.Sh BUGS
A replacement for the command
.Dq Li kill 0
for
.Xr csh 1
users should be provided.