Find and kill a process in one line using bash and regex

user_55366 0
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I often need to kill a process during programming.

The way I do it now is:

[~]$ ps aux | grep 'python csp_build.py'
user    5124  1.0  0.3 214588 13852 pts/4    Sl+  11:19   0:00 python csp_build.py
user    5373  0.0  0.0   8096   960 pts/6    S+   11:20   0:00 grep python csp_build.py
[~]$ kill 5124

How can I extract the process id automatically and kill it in the same line?

Like this:

[~]$ ps aux | grep 'python csp_build.py' | kill <regex that returns the pid>
awk terminal bash regex
30 Answers
killall -r regexp

-r, --regexp

Interpret process name pattern as an extended regular expression.

user_19035200

This will return the pid only

pgrep -f 'process_name'

So to kill any process in one line:

kill -9 $(pgrep -f 'process_name')

or, if you know the exact name of the process you can also try pidof:

kill -9 $(pidof 'process_name')

But, if you do not know the exact name of the process, pgrep would be better.

If there is multiple process running with the same name, and you want to kill the first one then:

kill -9 $(pgrep -f 'process_name' | head -1)

Also to note that, if you are worried about case sensitivity then you can add -i option just like in grep. For example:

kill -9 $(pgrep -fi chrome)

More info about signals and pgrep at man 7 signal or man signal and man pgrep

user_94961000

The solution would be filtering the processes with exact pattern , parse the pid, and construct an argument list for executing kill processes:

ps -ef  | grep -e <serviceNameA> -e <serviceNameB> -e <serviceNameC> |
awk '{print $2}' | xargs sudo kill -9

Explanation from documenation:

ps utility displays a header line, followed by lines containing information about all of your processes that have controlling terminals.

-e Display information about other users' processes, including those

-f Display the uid, pid, parent pid, recent CPU usage, process start

The grep utility searches any given input files, selecting lines that

-e pattern, --regexp=pattern Specify a pattern used during the search of the input: an input line is selected if it matches any of the specified patterns. This option is most useful when multiple -e options are used to specify multiple patterns, or when a pattern begins with a dash (`-').

xargs - construct argument list(s) and execute utility

kill - terminate or signal a process

number 9 signal - KILL (non-catchable, non-ignorable kill)

Example:

ps -ef  | grep -e node -e loggerUploadService.sh -e applicationService.js |
awk '{print $2}' | xargs sudo kill -9
user_46920490

Lots of good answers here - I used the answer accepted by the OP. Just adding a small caveat note about pkill and pgrep. As you might see from their manual pages, on your OS, some OS's have a 15-character limit on the process name. The -f option gets around that on my OS, but I was in trouble until I found that option!

user_48382990

If pkill -f csp_build.py doesn't kill the process you can add -9 to send a kill signall which will not be ignored. i.e. pkill -9 -f csp_build.py

user_50157580

Using -C flag of ps command

-C cmdlist
     Select by command name.  This selects the processes whose
     executable name is given in cmdlist.

1st case, simple command

So if you run your script by standard shebang and calling them by his name:

/path/to/csp_build.py

You may find them whith

ps -C csp_build.py

So

kill $(ps -C csp_build.py ho pid)

may be enough.

2nd case, search for cmd

A little more strong, but still a lot quicker than most other answer in this SO question...

If you don't know ho this is run, or if you run them by

python csp_build.py
python3 csp_build.py
python /path/to/csp_build.py

You may find them by running:

ps -C python,python3,csp_build.py who pid,cmd | grep csp_build.py

Then using sed:

kill $(ps -C python,python3,csp_build.py who pid,cmd |
    sed -ne '/csp_build.py/s/^ *\([0-9]\+\) .*$/\1/p')
user_17656580

Find and kill all the processes in one line in bash.

kill -9 $(ps -ef | grep '<exe_name>' | grep -v 'grep' | awk {'print $2'})
  • ps -ef | grep '<exe_name>' - Gives the list of running process details (uname, pid, etc ) which matches the pattern. Output list includes this grep command also which searches it. Now for killing we need to ignore this grep command process.
  • ps -ef | grep '<exec_name>' | grep -v 'grep' - Adding another grep with -v 'grep' removes the current grep process.
  • Then using awk get the process id alone.
  • Then keep this command inside $(...) and pass it to kill command, to kill all process.
user_5963700
user_156034770

if you wanna do it mostly within awk, try

  for i in $(jot 5); do 
 (python3 -c 'import sys; [ print(_) for _ in sys.stdin ]' ) & done; 
  
  sleep 1; ps aux | {m,g}awk '

       /[p]ython/ { 
              _=(_)" "$2 
       } END { 
           system("echo \47 kill "(_)" \47")
           system(      "kill -9 " _) }'


[302] 14236
[303] 14237
[304] 14238
[305] 14239
[306] 14240
[303]  + suspended (tty input)  ( python3 -c 'import sys; [ print(_) for _ in sys.stdin ]'; )
[305]  + suspended (tty input)  ( python3 -c 'import sys; [ print(_) for _ in sys.stdin ]'; )
[304]  + suspended (tty input)  ( python3 -c 'import sys; [ print(_) for _ in sys.stdin ]'; )
[302]  + suspended (tty input)  ( python3 -c 'import sys; [ print(_) for _ in sys.stdin ]'; )
[306]  + suspended (tty input)  ( python3 -c 'import sys; [ print(_) for _ in sys.stdin ]'; )
 
 kill  14239 14237 14236 14240 14238 
 
[305]    killed     ( python3 -c 'import sys; [ print(_) for _ in sys.stdin ]'; )
[303]    killed     ( python3 -c 'import sys; [ print(_) for _ in sys.stdin ]'; )
[306]  + killed     ( python3 -c 'import sys; [ print(_) for _ in sys.stdin ]'; )
[304]  - killed     ( python3 -c 'import sys; [ print(_) for _ in sys.stdin ]'; )
[302]  + killed     ( python3 -c 'import sys; [ print(_) for _ in sys.stdin ]'; )
user_146721140

For basic bash versions

kill $(pidof my_process)

user_25464900

The following command will come handy:

kill $(ps -elf | grep <process_regex>| awk {'print $4'})

eg., ps -elf | grep top

    0 T ubuntu    6558  6535  0  80   0 -  4001 signal 11:32 pts/1    00:00:00 top
    0 S ubuntu    6562  6535  0  80   0 -  2939 pipe_w 11:33 pts/1    00:00:00 grep --color=auto top

kill -$(ps -elf | grep top| awk {'print $4'})

    -bash: kill: (6572) - No such process
    [1]+  Killed                  top

If the process is still stuck, use "-9" extension to hardkill, as follows:

kill -9 $(ps -elf | grep top| awk {'print $4'})

Hope that helps...!

user_86128670

I don't like killing things based purely on a blind result from grep - what if I mistakenly match more than desired?

I know this is going to get downvoted by command line purists, but I prefer an interactive filter for this case, such as pick (apt-get install pick). With this kind of tool the filtered result is displayed as you type, so you can see exactly what will get killed when you hit enter.

Thus the one-liner would become

function killpick { ps ax | pick -q "$1" | awk  '{print $1}' | xargs kill -9; }

killpick by itself gives a chooser with incremental filtering, with the optional argument giving a starting string for the filter.

user_96556960
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