pidof

Linux · Processes · reference only

What it does

Returns the process IDs (PIDs) of the processes running a given program.

Syntax

pidof [opciones] programa...

Options and parameters

• programa

  Name of the program whose PID you want.

• -s

  Returns a single PID.

• -x

  Also includes scripts running under that name.

• -o PID

  Omits that PID from the results.

• -c

  Only returns processes running under the same root directory.

Usage examples

• pidof sshd

  Shows the PIDs of the SSH server.

• pidof -s nginx

  Shows a single nginx PID.

• pidof -x backup.sh

  Finds the PID of a running script.

• kill $(pidof -s firefox)

  Terminates a Firefox process using its PID.

Notes and common mistakes

• If no process has that name it prints nothing and returns a non-zero exit status.

Related commands

• at
• bg
• crontab
• fg
• jobs
• kill