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

SEE ALSO
     builtin(1), csh(1), killall(1), ps(1), sh(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