System and processes

The pstree command

Shows processes as a tree: who launched whom. It is the best way to see the process hierarchy.

Syntax

pstree [opciones]

Most useful options

-pShows the PIDs
-uShows the user

Copy-ready examples

$ pstreeProcess tree

You can try them in the browser terminal: it does not touch your computer.

Typical mistakes

  • On systems with thousands of processes the output is huge: combine it with less.

Related commands

pstoppidof

FAQ

Why does everything hang from systemd?

Because systemd is process 1: it is the parent of all the others.

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