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KILL(1)			  BSD General Commands Manual		       KILL(1)

NAME
     kill -- terminate or signal a process

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

DESCRIPTION
     The kill utility sends a signal to	the processes specified	by the pid op-
     erands.

     Only the super-user 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 TERM.

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

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

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

     The following PIDs	have special meanings:

     -1	     If	superuser, broadcast the signal	to all processes; otherwise
	     broadcast to all processes	belonging to the user.

     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)

     Some shells may provide a builtin kill command which is similar or	iden-
     tical to this utility.  Consult the builtin(1) manual page.

EXIT STATUS
     The kill utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

EXAMPLES
     Terminate the processes with PIDs 142 and 157:

	   kill	142 157

     Send the hangup signal (SIGHUP) to	the process with PID 507:

	   kill	-s HUP 507

     Terminate the process group with PGID 117:

	   kill	-- -117

SEE ALSO
     builtin(1), csh(1), killall(1), ps(1), kill(2), sigaction(2)

STANDARDS
     The kill utility is expected to be	IEEE Std 1003.2	("POSIX.2") compati-
     ble.

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

BUGS
     A replacement for the command "kill 0" for	csh(1) users should be pro-
     vided.

BSD				April 28, 1995				   BSD

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | EXIT STATUS | EXAMPLES | SEE ALSO | STANDARDS | HISTORY | BUGS

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