On Unix/Linus systems, there are quite a few commands that can provide insights into the processes that are running, the resources those processes use, and the users’ responsible for them. Some of these are Unix 101 type commands. Others require the use of more exotic command options that you might not know.

Some of the things that you might want to know about the processes running on your servers are:

• what processes are running
• who’s running them
• how much CPU time have they used
• how long have they been running
• what files do they have open
• what resources are they consuming now

What processes are running?

One of the first commands that Unix users learn is ps with and without arguments to show them what processes are running. Here are very simple examples showing just the current user’s processes. Notice that the ps command with the -u option displays one additional process — the sshd login process.

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