Processes and Jobs

Every program running on a Linux system is a process. Understanding how to view what is running, how to control processes, and how to manage background services is essential for maintaining a production server. This chapter covers process inspection, signals, background jobs, and the systemd service manager.

Process Basics

When you run a command, the shell creates a new process. Each process has:

A PID (Process ID) - unique integer identifier
A PPID (Parent Process ID) - the PID of the process that created it
An owner (the user who started it)
CPU and memory usage statistics
A state (running, sleeping, zombie, stopped)

The init or systemd process always has PID 1 and is the ancestor of all other processes.

Viewing Processes - `ps`

ps (process status) shows a snapshot of current processes.

# Processes in the current shell session
ps

# All processes from all users, in BSD syntax (most common usage)
ps aux

# All processes, full format (includes PPID, start time)
ps -ef

# Sort by CPU usage
ps aux --sort=-%cpu | head -n 20

# Sort by memory usage
ps aux --sort=-%mem | head -n 20

# Show a specific process by name
ps aux | grep nginx

# Show process tree (parent-child relationships)
ps axjf

# Show threads
ps axms

Understanding `ps aux` Output

USER       PID %CPU %MEM    VSZ   RSS TTY      STAT START   TIME COMMAND
ubuntu    1234  0.0  0.1  14500  2048 pts/0    Ss   09:00   0:00 bash
ubuntu    5678  2.4  1.2 623456 24576 pts/0    Sl   09:15   0:42 java -jar app.jar
root      9012  0.0  0.0   5756   812 ?        Ss   Apr09   0:00 /usr/sbin/sshd

Column	Meaning
`USER`	Process owner
`PID`	Process ID
`%CPU`	CPU usage percentage
`%MEM`	Memory usage percentage
`VSZ`	Virtual memory size (KB)
`RSS`	Resident Set Size - actual RAM used (KB)
`TTY`	Terminal (`?` means no terminal)
`STAT`	Process state (S=sleeping, R=running, Z=zombie, D=uninterruptible sleep)
`START`	Start time
`TIME`	Total CPU time consumed
`COMMAND`	Command and arguments

Interactive Process Monitor - `top` and `htop`

`top`

top shows a continuously updated view of system resource usage.

top

Key bindings inside top:

Key	Action
`q`	Quit
`k`	Kill a process (prompts for PID and signal)
`M`	Sort by memory
`P`	Sort by CPU (default)
`u`	Filter by user
`1`	Show individual CPU cores
`d`	Change update interval
`h`	Help

`htop`

htop is an improved, colour-coded top with mouse support. Install it first:

sudo apt install htop   # Ubuntu/Debian
sudo dnf install htop   # RHEL/Fedora

htop

# Filter by process name
htop -p $(pgrep java | tr '\n' ',')

htop shows a visual CPU/memory bar at the top and allows you to scroll, search (/), and kill processes with the function keys.

Signals and `kill`

Signals are software interrupts sent to processes. Every process can define how it handles each signal (except SIGKILL and SIGSTOP, which cannot be caught or ignored).

Common Signals

Signal	Number	Default Action	When to Use
`SIGTERM`	15	Graceful termination	Ask a process to stop cleanly (default for `kill`)
`SIGKILL`	9	Immediate kill	Force-kill a process that won't stop
`SIGHUP`	1	Terminate (or reload config)	Reload config without restart (e.g., nginx, sshd)
`SIGINT`	2	Interrupt	Same as pressing Ctrl+C
`SIGSTOP`	19	Pause	Pause a process
`SIGCONT`	18	Continue	Resume a paused process
`SIGUSR1`	10	User-defined	Application-specific (e.g., log rotation trigger)

Sending Signals

# Send SIGTERM (graceful stop) - default
kill 1234

# Send SIGKILL (force kill)
# Use only as a last resort; the process cannot clean up temporary files or save state.
kill -9 1234
kill -SIGKILL 1234

# Reload config (SIGHUP)
kill -HUP $(cat /var/run/nginx.pid)

# Kill by name (kills all processes matching the name - be specific)
killall nginx

# Kill all processes matching a pattern
# Be careful with broad patterns; verify with pgrep -af first.
pkill -f "java -jar myapp"

# Graceful killall
killall -s SIGTERM node

# Send signal to all processes of a user
pkill -u ubuntu

Finding PIDs

# Get PID of a named process
pgrep nginx
# 1234
# 1235

# Get PID and process name
pgrep -a nginx

# More precise matching
pgrep -x nginx     # exact name match
pgrep -f "java.*myapp.jar"  # match against full command line

# Combine with kill
kill $(pgrep nginx)

# Or use pkill directly
pkill nginx

Background Jobs

Running in the Background - `&`

Append & to run a command in the background, immediately returning your shell prompt.

# Run in background
./long-running-script.sh &
# [1] 5678   (job number and PID)

# The script continues running; you get your prompt back

Listing Jobs - `jobs`

jobs
# [1]+  Running    ./long-running-script.sh &
# [2]-  Stopped    vim file.txt

Foreground and Background - `fg` / `bg`

# Bring job 1 to the foreground
fg %1

# Send a foreground process to the background:
# 1. Press Ctrl+Z to suspend it
# 2. Then run:
bg %1   # resume it in the background

# Bring the most recent job to foreground
fg

Surviving Disconnects - `nohup`

When you disconnect from SSH, all processes you started (including background jobs) receive SIGHUP and terminate. nohup prevents this.

# Run a command that survives disconnection
nohup ./deploy.sh &

# Output goes to nohup.out by default
nohup ./deploy.sh > /var/log/deploy.log 2>&1 &

# Get the PID
echo $!
# 5679

`screen` and `tmux` - Terminal Multiplexers

For serious long-running tasks, terminal multiplexers are better than nohup:

# tmux - create a new session
tmux new -s deploy

# Detach from session (leaves it running): Ctrl+B, then D
# Reattach later:
tmux attach -t deploy

# List sessions
tmux ls

Managing Services with `systemctl`

Modern Linux systems use systemd as their init system and service manager. systemctl is the command-line interface to systemd.

Service Lifecycle

# Start a service
sudo systemctl start nginx

# Stop a service
sudo systemctl stop nginx

# Restart a service (stop then start)
sudo systemctl restart nginx

# Reload config without full restart (if the service supports it)
sudo systemctl reload nginx

# Restart if running, start if stopped
sudo systemctl reload-or-restart nginx

# Check service status
sudo systemctl status nginx

# Enable a service to start on boot
sudo systemctl enable nginx

# Disable autostart on boot
sudo systemctl disable nginx

# Enable and start in one command
sudo systemctl enable --now nginx

# Check if a service is running
systemctl is-active nginx     # prints "active" or "inactive"
systemctl is-enabled nginx    # prints "enabled" or "disabled"

Status Output

systemctl status nginx
# ● nginx.service - A high performance web server and a reverse proxy server
#      Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
#      Active: active (running) since Fri 2026-04-10 09:00:00 UTC; 2h 15min ago
#        Docs: man:nginx(8)
#    Main PID: 1234 (nginx)
#       Tasks: 3 (limit: 4660)
#      Memory: 5.2M
#         CPU: 142ms
#      CGroup: /system.slice/nginx.service
#              ├─1234 nginx: master process /usr/sbin/nginx -g daemon off;
#              ├─1235 nginx: worker process
#              └─1236 nginx: worker process
#
# Apr 10 09:00:00 myserver systemd[1]: Started A high performance web server...

Listing and Filtering Services

# List all active services
systemctl list-units --type=service

# List all services (including inactive)
systemctl list-units --type=service --all

# List services that failed
systemctl list-units --state=failed

# Show enabled/disabled state of all services
systemctl list-unit-files --type=service

Writing a systemd Service Unit

Create /etc/systemd/system/myapp.service:

[Unit]
Description=My Node.js Application
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=deploy
WorkingDirectory=/opt/myapp/current
ExecStart=/usr/bin/node server.js
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal
Environment=NODE_ENV=production
Environment=PORT=3000

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

# Reload systemd to pick up the new unit file
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

# Enable and start the service
sudo systemctl enable --now myapp

# Verify it started
sudo systemctl status myapp

Reading Logs with `journalctl`

journalctl queries the systemd journal - the centralized log storage for all services managed by systemd.

# All logs (newest at end)
journalctl

# Follow live log output (like tail -f)
journalctl -f

# Logs for a specific service
journalctl -u nginx

# Follow logs for a service
journalctl -u nginx -f

# Show logs from the current boot only
journalctl -b

# Show logs from the previous boot
journalctl -b -1

# Filter by priority (err, warning, info, debug)
journalctl -p err

# Show logs from the last hour
journalctl --since "1 hour ago"

# Show logs in a time range
journalctl --since "2026-04-10 09:00:00" --until "2026-04-10 10:00:00"

# Show last 100 lines
journalctl -n 100 -u myapp

# Output in JSON format (useful for log forwarding)
journalctl -u myapp -o json-pretty

# Filter by process ID
journalctl _PID=1234

# Disk usage of the journal
journalctl --disk-usage

Combining journalctl with grep

# Find errors in the nginx journal from the last hour
journalctl -u nginx --since "1 hour ago" | grep -i error

# Watch for authentication failures in real time
journalctl -f | grep -i "authentication failure"

Practical Scenarios

Check What Is Using a Port

# Which process is listening on port 8080?
sudo ss -tlnp | grep :8080
# or
sudo lsof -i :8080

Kill a Stuck Java Process Gracefully

# Find the PID
pgrep -f "java.*myapp.jar"
# 5678

# Try graceful stop first (SIGTERM)
kill 5678

# Wait a few seconds, check if it stopped
sleep 5
kill -0 5678 2>/dev/null && echo "still running" || echo "stopped"

# If still running, force kill
# Use SIGKILL only if SIGTERM was ignored.
kill -9 5678

Restart a Service After Config Change

# Validate nginx config before restarting
sudo nginx -t

# If valid, reload gracefully (zero downtime)
sudo systemctl reload nginx

# Or full restart if reload is not supported
sudo systemctl restart nginx

Debug a Service That Won't Start

# Check the status with recent journal entries
sudo systemctl status myapp

# Show all journal entries for the service (most useful)
sudo journalctl -u myapp --no-pager

# Check if the binary is where the unit file expects it
which node
ls -la /opt/myapp/current/server.js

# Try running the ExecStart command manually as the service user
sudo -u deploy /usr/bin/node /opt/myapp/current/server.js

Process Basics​

Viewing Processes - ps​

Understanding ps aux Output​

Interactive Process Monitor - top and htop​

top​

htop​

Signals and kill​

Common Signals​

Sending Signals​

Finding PIDs​

Background Jobs​

Running in the Background - &​

Listing Jobs - jobs​

Foreground and Background - fg / bg​

Surviving Disconnects - nohup​

screen and tmux - Terminal Multiplexers​

Managing Services with systemctl​

Service Lifecycle​

Status Output​

Listing and Filtering Services​

Writing a systemd Service Unit​

Reading Logs with journalctl​

Combining journalctl with grep​

Practical Scenarios​

Check What Is Using a Port​

Kill a Stuck Java Process Gracefully​

Restart a Service After Config Change​

Debug a Service That Won't Start​