Working with Processes and Services in Linux: A Beginner’s Guide

Linux is a popular open-source operating system used by developers, system administrators, and everyday computer users around the world. One of the most powerful features of Linux is its ability to manage processes and services. Processes are individual instances of a program that run on the system, while services are background processes that provide various functions to the system.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll take a closer look at how to work with processes and services in Linux.

Processes in Linux

A process in Linux is an instance of a program that is running on the system. Each process has a unique process ID (PID) that is assigned by the operating system. You can view the list of running processes on your system using the ps command.

To view the list of running processes on your system, open a terminal window and type:

ps aux 

This will display a list of all the running processes on your system, along with their PIDs, CPU, and memory usage, and other information. You can use the kill command to stop a process that is not responding or is causing problems. The kill command sends a signal to the process, requesting it to terminate gracefully.

To stop a process, you need to know its PID. You can find the PID of a process by using the ps command as follows:

ps aux | grep process_name 

Replace process_name with the name of the process you want to find the PID for. The output will include the PID of the process in the second column. Once you have the PID, you can use the kill command to stop the process as follows:

kill PID 

Replace PID with the actual PID of the process.

Services in Linux

A service in Linux is a program or a set of programs that run in the background, providing various functions to the system. Services are started automatically when the system boots up and continue running until the system is shut down. Services are usually managed using the systemctl command.

To view the list of all the services on your system, type the following command in the terminal:

systemctl list-unit-files --type=service 

This will display a list of all the services on your system, along with their status (enabled or disabled). You can start or stop a service using the systemctl command as follows:

sudo systemctl start service_name 
sudo systemctl stop service_name 

Replace service_name with the name of the service you want to start or stop.

You can also enable or disable service to start automatically when the system boots up using the systemctl command as follows:

sudo systemctl enable service_name 
sudo systemctl disable service_name 

Managing Processes and Services in Linux

To manage processes and services effectively in Linux, you need to be familiar with the following commands:

• ps: View the list of running processes on the system.
• kill
• : Stop a process that is not responding or is causing problems.
• systemctl
• : View and manage the services on the system.
• service
• : Start, stop, or restart a service.
• top
• : View the processes that are using the most CPU and memory resources on the system.

Conclusion

In conclusion, processes and services are essential components of any Linux system. As a beginner, it is important to understand how they work and how to manage them effectively. By using the commands and techniques described in this article, you can gain a better understanding of how to work with processes and services in Linux.