Working with Background Processes
Working with background processes is ideal for tasks that run in batch. Learn how to do this in Linux
Let's learn about the commands that handle scheduling processes in the background:
Command jobs
Usage:
$ jobs [options]
The jobs command lists the processes that are running in the background. If a job number is provided, the command will return information only for that specific job.
The job number is assigned when the process is moved to the background.
The most common options are:
-l Lists the PIDs of background processes.
Command bg
Usage:
$ bg [job_number]
The bg command moves a running process to the background. Placing the "&" signal after the command call produces the same effect.
If a command is already running in the foreground, that is, attached to a terminal, we can temporarily pause its execution with the TSTP (18) signal by pressing ctrl-z and then invoking the bg command.
Command fg
Usage:
$ fg [job_number]
The fg command does the exact opposite of the bg command, bringing the task to the foreground and attaching it to a terminal.
Command nohup
Usage:
$ nohup [command]
The nohup utility executes the specified command without attaching it to any terminal, making it immune to hangs, connection drops, and intentional disconnections.
Example:
$ nohup find / -name uira* > arquivos_econtrados &
In this example, nohup will execute the find / -name uira* command and send the output to arquivos_econtrados, which will run in the background.
See how to work with processes in Linux or even change the process priority.
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Prof. Uirá Ribeiro
Chair do Board do Linux Professional Institute
After years of watching professionals waste hours on simple tasks because they didn't know the right Linux tools, I decided to teach.
Today I'm the author of most of LPI's official Learning Materials and mentor to over 14,000 certified students.
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