KILL(1)                 System General Commands Manual                 KILL(1)

NAME
     kill - terminate or signal a process

SYNOPSIS
     kill [-s signal_name] pid [...]
     kill -l [exit_status]
     kill -m
     kill -signal_name pid [...]
     kill -signal_number pid [...]

DESCRIPTION
     The kill utility sends a signal to the process(es) specified by the pid
     operand(s).  If no signal is specified, SIGTERM is used.

     Only a superuser (Administrator or member of the Administrators group)
     may send signals to other users' processes.

     The options are as follows:

     -s signal_name
             A symbolic signal name specifying the signal to be sent instead
             of the default SIGTERM.

     -l [exit_status]
             If no operand is given, list the signal names; otherwise, write
             the signal name corresponding to exit_status.

     -m      List all of the signal numbers, names and descriptions in a
             table.

     -signal_name
             A symbolic signal name specifying the signal to be sent instead
             of the default SIGTERM.

     -signal_number
             A non-negative decimal integer specifying the signal to be sent
             instead of the default SIGTERM.

     The following PIDs have special meanings:

           -1      If superuser, broadcast the signal to all processes; other-
                   wise, broadcast to all processes belonging to the user.
                   Great caution should be exercised before invoking kill this
                   way because of the widespread effect which includes termi-
                   nating the shell or script that it is issued from.

           -pgid   Send the signal to all processes within the specified pro-
                   cess group.

     Some of the more commonly used signals:

           1       HUP (hang up)
           2       INT (interrupt)
           3       QUIT (quit)
           6       ABRT (abort)
           9       KILL (non-catchable, non-ignorable kill)
           14      ALRM (alarm clock)
           15      TERM (software termination signal)

     For a more complete list, consult the sigaction(2) manual page.

     A signal number of 0 (kill -0 pid) checks the validity of a certain PID,
     to see if it exists.  An exit code of 0 means that the specified process
     exists.

     The kill utility exists as a built-in to most shells; they allow job
     specifiers of the form ``%...'' as arguments, so process IDs are not as
     often used as kill arguments.

EXAMPLES
     Forcibly terminate process ID 1234:

           $ kill -9 1234

     Send the inetd(8) daemon the hangup signal, instructing it to re-read its
     configuration from /etc/inetd.conf:

           # kill -HUP `cat /var/run/inetd.pid`

SEE ALSO
     csh(1), kill(2), ps(1), pstat(1), sh(1), sigaction(2), truss(1)

NOTES
     The kill command is also a built-in for most shells. This manual page
     describes the stand-alone utility. With scripting it is recommended that
     for portability and consistency that this program be explicitly named
     (/bin/kill).

     After some registry entries have been updated it is possible for the
     Interix OS to be alert to these changes without a reboot being needed. A
     kill to process number 1 (one) of signal 1 (one):
           $ kill -1 1

     A sample registry entry is PrincipalDomain which will be at lightly dif-
     ferent locations depending if you installed Interix by itself, as part of
     SFU or as SUA.

     Many daemons create a PID file (/var/run/...) that you can use in scripts
     rather than using ps(1), grep(1) and awk(1) to get a pid. If you wish to
     use shell job control identifiers you must use that shell's built-in.

STANDARDS
     The kill utility is POSIX 1003.2 and SUS compatible.

HISTORY
     A kill command appeared in Version 3 AT&T UNIX.

Interix                          June 12, 2006                         Interix