How to Find and Kill a Process by its Name on the Terminal in Ubuntu

This is an article about how to effectively manage processes running on your Linux system, specifically on Ubuntu. In this tutorial, we will discuss step-by-step procedures for finding and terminating processes using their names from within the terminal. Whether you’re dealing with misbehaving applications or simply want more control over your system resources, mastering these techniques is invaluable.

Introduction to Processes in Linux

In Linux systems like Ubuntu, a process refers to an executing program that is currently running on the system. These processes can include anything from simple command-line utilities to complex graphical desktop environments and background services. As with any other operating system, managing these processes efficiently is crucial for maintaining performance and stability.

Why Manage Processes?

Managing processes manually becomes necessary when:

• A process is consuming too many resources (CPU, memory).
• A process is causing the system to freeze or crash.
• You need to stop a program from running in order to update or troubleshoot it.

In this article, you will find information about how to list all active processes and identify those with specific names. We’ll also cover several methods for terminating (killing) these processes when necessary. Additionally, we’ll touch upon best practices for safely managing your system’s resources without causing unintended consequences.

Prerequisites

Before diving into the specifics of finding and killing processes, make sure you have administrative privileges on your Ubuntu machine. Some commands might require root access or sudo permissions to execute successfully. Familiarity with basic Linux command-line tools like ps, top, and kill is also beneficial but not strictly required.

Step-by-Step Guide: Finding a Process by its Name

Using the ps Command

The most straightforward method for finding processes involves using the ps utility. The ps command lists currently running processes on your system, allowing you to see what’s active and how much of your resources each process is consuming.

Basic Usage

To view all processes related to a specific application or name:

• a: Shows all the processes for which the process owner is in their terminal.
• u: Provides detailed information about user resources (like memory and CPU usage).
• x: Includes processes that aren’t attached to a terminal session.

Replace <process_name> with the name of the program you’re looking for. For example, if you need to find all instances of firefox, run:

The output will list each process along with its PID (Process ID) and other relevant details such as user running it, CPU usage, memory consumption, etc.

Using the pgrep Command

Another powerful tool for finding processes based on name is pgrep. This command allows you to search for processes by matching patterns against their names.

Basic Usage

This will output only the PIDs of all running processes that match <process_name>. For instance:

Using top and htop Tools

While these tools primarily display an overview of system resource usage, they can also be used to find specific processes by their names.

Basic Usage: top

1. Open a terminal window.
2. Type top followed by pressing Enter.

Once inside the top interface, you can press c (for command) and then use / (search function) to search for the process name:

Press Enter, and it will jump straight to the line where your target process is listed. Pressing q exits the search mode, allowing you to view other processes or perform actions directly from within top.

Basic Usage: htop

1. Ensure htop is installed on your system:

   sudo apt-get install htop

2. Launch htop by typing:

   htop

In htop, pressing / allows you to search for processes, similar to how you’d use top. You can type the name of your target process and hit Enter.

Step-by-Step Guide: Killing a Process

Once you’ve located a process by its PID or name using one of the methods above, it’s time to terminate (kill) it if necessary. Here are several ways to do this effectively:

Using kill Command

The simplest method involves using the kill command followed by the PID number.

If you don’t have permission to kill a process, you may need to use sudo.

Example

To terminate a Firefox process with PID 1234:

Using -9 Option for Forceful Termination

Sometimes processes can be unresponsive and refuse to shut down gracefully using the standard kill command. In such cases, you can force termination by sending a SIGKILL signal (-9 option).

Example

Forcing Firefox with PID 1234 to terminate:

Using pkill Command

If you know the name of a process but not its PID, or if you want to kill all instances of a program at once, use pkill.

Basic Usage

This command will find and terminate every running instance of <process_name>.

Example

Killing all Firefox processes:

Using top or htop for Interactive Process Management

Both top and htop provide interactive interfaces to manage processes, including the ability to kill them directly from within the tool.

Basic Usage: top

1. Start top.
2. Press k to enter the kill mode.
3. Enter the PID of the process you wish to terminate.
4. Confirm by pressing Enter.

Basic Usage: htop

1. Launch htop.
2. Use the arrow keys or mouse to select a process.
3. Press F9 to bring up the ‘kill’ menu for the selected process.
4. Enter the signal (usually SIGTERM) and press Enter.

Best Practices When Killing Processes

• Always try to terminate processes gracefully first using standard methods before resorting to forceful termination with -9.
• Be cautious when killing processes, especially system services or those running under different users.
• Consider restarting your application instead of forcefully terminating it whenever possible.
• Use pkill or similar commands carefully; they can inadvertently shut down more than you intended.

Conclusion

In this article about managing processes on Ubuntu via the terminal, we covered fundamental techniques for finding and killing processes based solely on their names. From basic commands like ps, pgrep, and grep, to interactive tools such as top and htop, mastering these methods gives you powerful control over your system’s running applications.

By applying best practices discussed here—such as graceful termination first, caution with critical processes, and careful use of wide-reaching kill commands—you can effectively manage your Ubuntu system without risking instability or data loss.