pkill
Processes and system
Usage
pkill [-SIGNAL] [-f] <pattern>Kills every process matching a pattern; without `-f` only the process name is compared, and a loose pattern takes down more than you meant, so run pgrep with the same pattern first.
Common flags
| Flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
| -f | Match against the whole command line, not just the process name. |
| -u <user> | Restrict to one user. |
| -x | Require the whole name to match, not a substring. |
| -n / -o | Only the newest / only the oldest matching process. |
| -9 | Force instead of asking the process to exit. |
| -i | Case-insensitive matching. |
Examples
pgrep -af "node server.js" && pkill -f "node server.js"Look first, then kill exactly what you saw.
pkill -u deploy -f gunicornStop the deploy user's gunicorn workers.
What is running and what is eating the machine. Identifying it comes before killing it.
How to read this
- Square brackets [ ] mark a part you may leave out.
- An ellipsis … means you can list more than one.
- Flags are case-sensitive — in some commands -r and -R do different things.
Questions
Q. What does pkill do?
Kills every process matching a pattern; without `-f` only the process name is compared, and a loose pattern takes down more than you meant, so run pgrep with the same pattern first.
Q. How do I type it?
pkill [-SIGNAL] [-f] <pattern> — square brackets mark the parts you can leave out.
Q. How many flags are worth knowing?
6 are listed here; the full set is in man pkill. This command sits under Processes and system.
Related commands
man page: man pkill