Chapter 9 - Managing Linux Processes

Question 1

A number assigned to a process, used to determine how many time slices on the processor that process will receive; the higher the number, the lower the priority.

Answer 1

process priority

Question 2

Used to give real-time information about the most active processes on the system; it can also be used to renice or kill processes.

Answer 2

top command

Question 3

Sends kill signals to processes by process name.

Answer 3

killall command

Question 4

A system process that is not associated with a terminal.

Answer 4

daemon process

Question 5

Used to view, create, and manage scheduled tasks that run at a preset time in the future.

Answer 5

at command

Question 6

A process that does not require the BASH shell to wait for its termination. Upon execution, the user receives the BASH shell prompt immediately.

Answer 6

background process

Question 7

Used to list the PIDs of processes that match a regular expression or other criteria.

Answer 7

pgrep command

Question 8

Used to send a kill signal to processes that match a regular expression or other criteria.

Answer 8

pkill command

Question 9

The system daemon that executes tasks at a future time; it is configured with the at command.

Answer 9

at daemon (atd)

Question 10

A file specifying tasks to be run by the cron daemon

Answer 10

cron table

Question 11

A process that was started by another process (parent process).

Answer 11

child process

Question 12

The system daemon that executes tasks repetitively in the future and that is configured using cron tables.

Answer 12

cron daemon (crond)

Question 13

Used to send kill signals to a process by PID.

Answer 13

kill command

Question 14

Used to obtain information about processes currently running on the system.

Answer 14

ps command

Question 15

Displays processes according to their lineage, starting from the init daemon.

Answer 15

pstree command

Question 16

A process that has finished executing but whose parent has not yet released its PID; the _______ still retains a spot in the kernel’s process table.

Answer 16

zombie process

Question 17

A process that has started other processes (child processes).

Answer 17

parent process

Question 18

Lists the files that are currently being viewed or modified by processes and users.

Answer 18

lsof (list open files) command

Question 19

The signal sent to a process for use in terminating or restarting processes; different ________ affect processes in different ways.

Answer 19

kill signal

Question 20

A process begun by a user and which runs on a terminal.

Answer 20

user process

Question 21

The act of creating a new BASH shell child process from a parent BASH shell process.

Answer 21

forking

Question 22

Used to change the priority of a process as it is started.

Answer 22

nice command

Question 23

A process that has become faulty in some way and continues to consume far more system resources than it should.

Answer 23

rogue process

Question 24

Displays background processes running in the current shell.

Answer 24

jobs command

Question 25

The amount of time a process is given on a CPU in a multiprocessing operating system.

Answer 25

time slice

Question 26

The current state of the process on the processor; most processes are in the sleeping or running state.

Answer 26

process state

Question 27

Used to view a scheduled at job.

Answer 27

atq command

Question 28

Used to execute a child process without parent association.

Answer 28

nohup command

Question 29

The PID of the parent process that created the current process.

Answer 29

parent process ID (PPID)

Question 30

The process of ignoring a kill signal.

Answer 30

trap

Question 31

Used to view and edit user cron tables.

Answer 31

crontab command

Question 32

Used to run a process repeatedly at the specified second interval.

Answer 32

watch command

Question 33

Used to alter the nice value of a process currently running on the system.

Answer 33

renice command

Question 34

Used to remove a scheduled at job.

Answer 34

atrm command

Question 35

The value that indirectly represents the priority of a process; the higher the value, the lower the priority.

Answer 35

nice value

Question 36

Used to run a foreground process in the background.

Answer 36

background (bg) command

Question 37

A unique identifier assigned to every process as it begins.

Answer 37

process ID (PID)

Question 38

A process for which the BASH shell that executed it must wait for its termination.

Answer 38

foreground process

Question 39

Used to run a background process in the foreground.

Answer 39

foreground (fg) command