Command line and full screen utilities for browsing procfs, a "pseudo" file system dynamically generated by Linux to provide information about the status of entries in its process table.
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Jim Warner ecd64f4445 library: normalize/standardize an i/f, <DISKSTATS> api
This patch will bring this interface up to our 3rd gen
standards. The following summarizes the major changes.

* New delta provisions have been added to most fields.

There are, of course, some fields for which a delta is
inappropriate. They include the identifying items such
as name, type, major and minor. Plus the io_inprogress
field which already acts, in effect, as a delta value.

* To provide delta support, dev_node historical values
have become persistent. By the same token, the library
must provide for future removal of disks/partitions. A
timestamp is used to detect 'stale' data which will be
deleted so as not to satisfy some get, select or reap.

* Such persistent support is provided by a linked list
which, by default, grows from the bottom down so as to
maintain compatibility with the /proc/diskstats order.

Initially, I was tempted to use the GNU tsearch (tree)
provisions until I discovered the overhead of building
that tree plus costs of a subsequent 'twalk'. Besides,
walking such a tree means retrieval order would differ
from an order required/expected by the vmstat program.

* The '/sys/block' directory is no longer scanned with
every refresh cycle. Rather, it's only accessed when a
node is first encountered. Then, that node's 'type' is
persistent for its lifetime like several other fields.

* A sort provision was included, at virtually no cost,
even though such a provision was not currently needed.

Signed-off-by: Jim Warner <james.warner@comcast.net>
2016-07-26 20:46:08 +10:00
contrib miscellaneous: clean up trailing whitespace once again 2013-04-07 18:05:01 +10:00
doc misc: eliminated every instance of trailing whitespace 2016-07-09 12:48:28 +10:00
Documentation miscellaneous: remove some trailing whitespace buildup 2015-06-20 07:46:23 +10:00
include tests: update template and add pids 2016-04-19 21:33:02 +10:00
lib misc: Few more resource leak fixes 2016-05-03 21:58:13 +10:00
man-po translations: Update all and fix Polish 2015-08-09 17:37:44 +10:00
misc build-sys: rename the 'tools' subdirectory to 'misc' 2012-03-02 21:25:38 +11:00
po lang: Update language files 2016-04-16 17:20:06 +10:00
proc library: normalize/standardize an i/f, <DISKSTATS> api 2016-07-26 20:46:08 +10:00
ps misc: just eliminate several 'unused' warning messages 2016-07-26 07:59:48 +10:00
testsuite testsuite: kill test fails on signal names 2016-04-11 22:12:58 +10:00
top top: make compilation possible under netbsd-curses too 2016-07-17 09:31:57 +10:00
.gitignore pgrep: some coverity fixes 2016-04-27 22:50:25 +10:00
.gitlab-ci.yml test: Update gitlab CI YAML to use shared runner 2016-04-20 22:20:55 +10:00
AUTHORS Changed git site to gitlab 2015-05-10 14:57:50 +10:00
autogen.sh Fix a remaining util-linux word in autogen 2012-02-26 08:39:16 +11:00
ChangeLog Changed git site to gitlab 2015-05-10 14:57:50 +10:00
configure.ac build sys: update configure.ac for the latest autoscan 2016-07-09 12:48:28 +10:00
COPYING license: update FSF addresses 2012-03-04 08:04:24 +11:00
COPYING.LIB miscellaneous: clean up trailing whitespace once again 2013-04-07 18:05:01 +10:00
create-man-pot.sh docs: with systemd now in library, remember openproc.3 2014-07-18 20:49:57 +02:00
free.1 watch,free: interpet intervals in non-locale way 2016-07-03 16:20:48 +10:00
free.c misc: just eliminate several 'unused' warning messages 2016-07-26 07:59:48 +10:00
INSTALL.md docs: Updated documentation 2015-05-10 17:23:54 +10:00
kill.1 docs: fix manual page warnings 2012-04-16 12:55:53 +02:00
kill.c kill: Correct pid type 2016-07-02 15:04:22 +10:00
Makefile.am library: rename 'diskstat' source as 'diskstats' files 2016-07-26 07:59:52 +10:00
NEWS watch,free: interpet intervals in non-locale way 2016-07-03 16:20:48 +10:00
pgrep.1 misc: eliminate accumulated trailing whitespace, again 2016-03-12 14:53:53 +11:00
pgrep.c misc: adapt others to changes in interface, <PIDS> api 2016-05-16 19:58:20 +10:00
pidof.1 pidof: support for omitted %PPID and additional separators 2013-10-14 15:38:33 +02:00
pidof.c misc: adapt others to changes in interface, <PIDS> api 2016-05-16 19:58:20 +10:00
pkill.1 procps 010114 2002-02-01 22:47:29 +00:00
pmap.1 pmap: Including -p in the man page 2013-11-26 13:45:22 +01:00
pmap.c misc: adapt others to struct layout change, <PIDS> api 2016-06-28 21:11:25 +10:00
pwdx.1 docs: fix manual page warnings 2012-04-16 12:55:53 +02:00
pwdx.c Handle out of memory conditions. 2015-07-11 21:28:47 +02:00
README.md misc: eliminate accumulated trailing whitespace, again 2016-03-12 14:53:53 +11:00
skill.1 skill: support namespaces 2013-04-18 13:59:44 -04:00
skill.c misc: just eliminate several 'unused' warning messages 2016-07-26 07:59:48 +10:00
slabtop.1 procps: Add a zero-width break point in slabtop.1 2015-06-01 22:04:40 +10:00
slabtop.c slabtop: correct the sort behavior for that NAME field 2016-06-11 11:50:37 +10:00
snice.1 procps 010114 2002-02-01 22:47:29 +00:00
sysctl.8 docs: Fix typos in slabtop.1, sysctl.8 and uptime.1 2014-09-16 19:35:28 +02:00
sysctl.c Merge branch 'master' into newlib 2015-10-28 21:09:26 +11:00
sysctl.conf docs: remove tcp_default_win_scale from sysctl.conf sample 2012-01-24 22:34:12 +01:00
sysctl.conf.5 docs: Fix typos in sysctl.8 and sysctl.conf.5 2014-09-15 16:24:59 +02:00
tload.1 docs: fix manual page warnings 2012-04-16 12:55:53 +02:00
tload.c library: cleanup of library includes 2016-04-16 17:03:57 +10:00
translate-man.sh Fixed translate-man.sh for no top ps 2014-05-28 20:12:33 +10:00
uptime.1 docs: Fix typos in slabtop.1, sysctl.8 and uptime.1 2014-09-16 19:35:28 +02:00
uptime.c library: cleanup of library includes 2016-04-16 17:03:57 +10:00
vmstat.8 library: reverting tmpfs subtraction from cached (18-FEB-2014) 2014-04-30 13:59:34 +02:00
vmstat.c vmstat: disallow 'disks' under that 'partition' switch 2016-07-17 08:49:48 +10:00
w.1 w: correct program help & man page regarding arguments 2015-09-07 18:11:48 +10:00
w.c misc: adapt others to struct layout change, <PIDS> api 2016-06-28 21:11:25 +10:00
watch.1 documentation: Update watch man page 2016-07-03 16:20:58 +10:00
watch.c watch: fix process_ansi typo 2016-07-10 07:45:56 +10:00

build status procps

procps is a set of command line and full-screen utilities that provide information out of the pseudo-filesystem most commonly located at /proc. This filesystem provides a simple interface to the kernel data structures. The programs of procps generally concentrate on the structures that describe the processess running on the system.

The following programs are found in procps:

  • free - Report the amount of free and used memory in the system
  • kill - Send a signal to a process based on PID
  • pgrep - List processes based on name or other attributes
  • pkill - Send a signal to a process based on name or other attributes
  • pmap - Report memory map of a process
  • ps - Report information of processes
  • pwdx - Report current directory of a process
  • skill - Obsolete version of pgrep/pkill
  • slabtop - Display kernel slab cache information in real time
  • snice - Renice a process
  • sysctl - Read or Write kernel parameters at run-time
  • tload - Graphical representation of system load average
  • top - Dynamic real-time view of running processes
  • uptime - Display how long the system has been running
  • vmstat - Report virtual memory statistics
  • w - Report logged in users and what they are doing
  • watch - Execute a program periodically, showing output fullscreen

Reporting Bugs

There are a few ways of reporting bugs or feature requests:

  1. Your distributions bug reporter. If you are using a distribution your first port of call is their bug tracker. This is because each distribution has their own patches and way of dealing with bugs. Also bug reporting often does not need any subscription to websites.
  2. GitLab Issues - To the left of this page is the issue tracker. You can report bugs here.
  3. Email list - We have an email list (see below) where you can report bugs. The problem with this method is bug reports often get lost and cannot be tracked. This is especially a big problem when its something that will take time to resolve.

If you need to report bugs, there is more details on the Bug Reporting page.

Email List

The email list for the developers and users of procps is found at http://www.freelists.org/archive/procps/ This email list discusses the development of procps and is used by distributions to also forward or discuss bugs.