NetBSD-5.0.2/bin/kill/kill.1

.\"	$NetBSD: kill.1,v 1.21 2007/12/28 14:32:50 wiz Exp $
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.\"	@(#)kill.1	8.2 (Berkeley) 4/28/95
.\"
.Dd April 28, 1995
.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 signal_name
.Ar pid
\&...
.Nm
.Fl signal_number
.Ar pid
\&...
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm
utility sends a signal to the process(es) specified
by the pid operand(s).
.Pp
Only the super-user may send signals to other users' processes.
.Pp
The options are as follows:
.Pp
.Bl -tag -width Ds
.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
Display the name of the signal corresponding to
.Ar exit_status .
.Ar exit_status
may be the exit status of a command killed by a signal
(see the
special
.Xr sh 1
parameter
.Sq ?\& )
or a signal number.
.Pp
If no operand is given, display the names of all the signals.
.It Fl signal_name
A symbolic signal name specifying the signal to be sent instead of the
default
.Dv TERM .
.It Fl 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 Ds -compact
.It -1
If superuser, broadcast the signal to all processes; otherwise broadcast
to all processes belonging to the user.
.It 0
Broadcast the signal to all processes in the current process group
belonging to the user.
.El
.Pp
Some of the more commonly used signals:
.Bl -tag -width Ds -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
.Nm
is a built-in to
.Xr csh  1  ;
it allows job specifiers of the form ``%...'' as arguments
so process id's are not as often used as
.Nm
arguments.
See
.Xr csh  1
for details.
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr csh 1 ,
.Xr pgrep 1 ,
.Xr pkill 1 ,
.Xr ps 1 ,
.Xr kill 2 ,
.Xr sigaction 2 ,
.Xr signal 7
.Sh STANDARDS
The
.Nm
function is expected to be
.St -p1003.2
compatible.
.Sh HISTORY
A
.Nm
command appeared in
.At v6 .