The pstree command is similar to ps, but instead of listing the running processes, it shows them as a tree. The tree-like format is sometimes more suitable way to display the processes hierarchy which is a much simpler way to visualize running processes. The root of the tree is either init or the process with the given pid.
- To display a hierarchical tree structure of all running processes:
pstree
- To display a tree with the given process as the root of the tree:
pstree [pid]
- To show only those processes that have been started by a user:
pstree [USER]
- To show the parent processes of the given process:
pstree -s [PID]
- To view the output one page at a time, pipe it to the
lesscommand:
pstree | less
ps [OPTIONS] [USER or PID]
| Short Flag | Long Flag | Description |
|---|---|---|
-a |
--arguments |
Show command line arguments |
-A |
--ascii |
use ASCII line drawing characters |
-c |
--compact |
Don't compact identical subtrees |
-h |
--highlight-all |
Highlight current process and its ancestors |
-H PID |
--highlight-pid=PID |
highlight this process and its ancestors |
-g |
--show-pgids |
show process group ids; implies -c |
-G |
--vt100 |
use VT100 line drawing characters |
-l |
--long |
Don't truncate long lines |
-n |
--numeric-sort |
Sort output by PID |
-N type |
--ns-sort=type |
Sort by namespace type (cgroup, ipc, mnt, net, pid, user, uts) |
-p |
--show-pids |
show PIDs; implies -c |
-s |
--show-parents |
Show parents of the selected process |
-S |
--ns-changes |
show namespace transitions |
-t |
--thread-names |
Show full thread names |
-T |
--hide-threads |
Hide threads, show only processes |
-u |
--uid-changes |
Show uid transitions |
-U |
--unicode |
Use UTF-8 (Unicode) line drawing characters |
-V |
--version |
Display version information |
-Z |
--security-context |
Show SELinux security contexts |