when will pkill return?

AugustePop · 2010-06-23 11:35:04

if i issue

pkill -SIGTERM -x firefox

from a console, when will pkill return?

will it return immediately after sending the signals or will it be blocked till all the processes end?

i am using SIGTERM here so that the matched processes will be able to catch the signal and shut down properly, which unfortunately would take time.

Trent · 2010-06-23 12:37:18

Offhand, I suspect it will return immediately after sending the signal. But why not just run it and find out?

ataraxia · 2010-06-23 13:46:06

It returns as soon as the signal is sent.

Also, SIGTERM is the default - you don't need to specify it.

AugustePop · 2010-06-23 15:22:41

thank you for the quick response.

actually, after posting the question, i found out the answer by pure logic. since pkill can send any kind of signal to the process, it should return right after sending the signals.

i don't know that SIGTERM is the default signal since it is not documented in the man page. thank you for the tip.

fsckd · 2010-06-23 15:51:01

At the end of the Description section of the man page is, "pkill will send the specified signal (by default SIGTERM) to each process."

Arch Linux

#1 2010-06-23 11:35:04

when will pkill return?

#2 2010-06-23 12:37:18

Re: when will pkill return?

#3 2010-06-23 13:46:06

Re: when will pkill return?

#4 2010-06-23 15:22:41

Re: when will pkill return?

#5 2010-06-23 15:51:01

Re: when will pkill return?

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