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Killing Zombie Processes In Linux And Unix

By bubarda

Brief and simple exploration of zombie processes in Linux and Unix and how to get rid of them. Is the kind of story that I like. I really really like. It is informative it is instructional and it is useful. Thanks for posting and getting on digg.

read more | digg story

This entry was posted on May 13, 2008 at 12:20 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

6 Responses to “Killing Zombie Processes In Linux And Unix”

  1. Miroslav Franc Says:
    May 13, 2008 at 5:10 pm

    How about sending SIGCHLD to its parent process?

  2. David Bubar Says:
    May 13, 2008 at 5:53 pm

    It does nothing as the default action for SIGCHLD and SIGCLD is to ignore the signal.

  3. Miroslav Franc Says:
    May 13, 2008 at 6:50 pm

    Doesn’t really matter. Of course it’s not 100% but neither those tips. For me it always works and I don’t have to terminate anything. SIGCHLD handler is common practice and this should be the first thing to try.

  4. Mike Golvach Says:
    May 13, 2008 at 10:42 pm

    Hey,

    Thanks for the kind words :) I kind of lumped SIGCHLD in there with the “try every signal possible” step and implied it in the explain of the parent processes wait() without being too specific about the parent/child relationship.

    I try to write for a broad audience, but I’m afraid, no matter how hard I try, I’m sometimes the victim of my own assumptions (that is to say, I’ve been working with Unix for long enough that it’s hard to write about it and not forget to explain “something” ;)

    A valid point, of course, and duly noted. Thanks for the link and your comments :)

    Take it easy,

    Mike

  5. Mike Golvach Says:
    May 13, 2008 at 10:52 pm

    Hey Guys,

    I decided to modify my post based on your comments. I reworded the end of point 4 to read like this, since I stated that I usually try sig’s 1-15, plus.. etc. This should bring your point to the fore.

    Thanks for the input, again :)

    Changed text:

    Sending a kill SIGCHLD or SIGCLD (Which is the same as SIGCHLD on System M) is a good one to try, as well. Sometimes your chosen method won’t make “textbook sense” but it will work from time to time :)

    Thanks, again :)

    , Mike

  6. Mike Golvach Says:
    May 13, 2008 at 10:55 pm

    That’s System V – For some reason the cut-and-paste didn’t work right.

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