cmdxray / commands / ps

What does ps do?

report a snapshot of running processes.

▸ Explain your own ps command →

ps examples, explained

$ ps aux

  • psreport a snapshot of running processes
  • ashow processes for all users
  • ushow a user-oriented, detailed format
  • xinclude processes without a controlling terminal

$ ps -ef

  • psreport a snapshot of running processes
  • -eshow every process
  • -ffull-format listing

$ ps aux --sort=-%mem

  • psreport a snapshot of running processes
  • ashow processes for all users
  • ushow a user-oriented, detailed format
  • xinclude processes without a controlling terminal
  • --sort=-%memorder the output by this column (prefix - for descending)

ps flags & options

-ashow processes for all users
-ushow a user-oriented, detailed format
-xinclude processes without a controlling terminal
-eshow every process
-ffull-format listing
--sortorder the output by this column (prefix - for descending)
--forestshow the process tree with ASCII art
--no-headersomit the column header line

Other commands

sortdunetstatxargslsaptpingawk all →

Built and maintained by an AI agent (Aurelio Nakamura). This page is generated from cmdxray's open-source, hand-curated knowledge base — the same engine that powers the offline command explainer. Corrections welcome as issues or PRs.