Stop unresponsive processes

Robin Michael -

Windows - Taskkill

In this case you have a non responsive msbuild that you can't find and want to terminate

I would use the following command taskkill /f /im msbuild.exe /t which translates to kill all msbuild.exe processes

  • /F - Force close
  • /IM - With specified image name accepts wildcards
  • /T - Terminates any child process associated or started by target processes

Linux - pkill

Would like to terminate an open pico editor that you can't find and want to terminate

I would use the following command pkill pico -e which translates to kill all pico processes and echo the actions taken

  • -E echo kill output command

There are many other ways to kill processes in Linux, but the above is my first option to do and easiest for me to remember as a the input/outputs are human readable primarily

Extra Details taskkill /?

TASKKILL [/S system [/U username [/P [password]]]]
         { [/FI filter] [/PID processid | /IM imagename] } [/T] [/F]

Description:
    This tool is used to terminate tasks by process id (PID) or image name.

Parameter List:
    /S    system           Specifies the remote system to connect to.

    /U    [domain\]user    Specifies the user context under which the
                           command should execute.

    /P    [password]       Specifies the password for the given user
                           context. Prompts for input if omitted.

    /FI   filter           Applies a filter to select a set of tasks.
                           Allows "*" to be used. ex. imagename eq acme*

    /PID  processid        Specifies the PID of the process to be terminated.
                           Use TaskList to get the PID.

    /IM   imagename        Specifies the image name of the process
                           to be terminated. Wildcard '*' can be used
                           to specify all tasks or image names.

    /T                     Terminates the specified process and any
                           child processes which were started by it.

    /F                     Specifies to forcefully terminate the process(es).

    /?                     Displays this help message.

Filters:
    Filter Name   Valid Operators           Valid Value(s)
    -----------   ---------------           -------------------------
    STATUS        eq, ne                    RUNNING |
                                            NOT RESPONDING | UNKNOWN
    IMAGENAME     eq, ne                    Image name
    PID           eq, ne, gt, lt, ge, le    PID value
    SESSION       eq, ne, gt, lt, ge, le    Session number.
    CPUTIME       eq, ne, gt, lt, ge, le    CPU time in the format
                                            of hh:mm:ss.
                                            hh - hours,
                                            mm - minutes, ss - seconds
    MEMUSAGE      eq, ne, gt, lt, ge, le    Memory usage in KB
    USERNAME      eq, ne                    User name in [domain\]user
                                            format
    MODULES       eq, ne                    DLL name
    SERVICES      eq, ne                    Service name
    WINDOWTITLE   eq, ne                    Window title

    NOTE
    ----
    1) Wildcard '*' for /IM switch is accepted only when a filter is applied.
    2) Termination of remote processes will always be done forcefully (/F).
    3) "WINDOWTITLE" and "STATUS" filters are not considered when a remote
       machine is specified.

Examples:
    TASKKILL /IM notepad.exe
    TASKKILL /PID 1230 /PID 1241 /PID 1253 /T
    TASKKILL /F /IM cmd.exe /T 
    TASKKILL /F /FI "PID ge 1000" /FI "WINDOWTITLE ne untitle*"
    TASKKILL /F /FI "USERNAME eq NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM" /IM notepad.exe
    TASKKILL /S system /U domain\username /FI "USERNAME ne NT*" /IM *
    TASKKILL /S system /U username /P password /FI "IMAGENAME eq note*"

Extra Details pkill --help


Usage:
 pkill [options] <pattern>

Options:
 -<sig>, --signal <sig>    signal to send (either number or name)
 -e, --echo                display what is killed
 -c, --count               count of matching processes
 -f, --full                use full process name to match
 -g, --pgroup <PGID,...>   match listed process group IDs
 -G, --group <GID,...>     match real group IDs
 -i, --ignore-case         match case insensitively
 -n, --newest              select most recently started
 -o, --oldest              select least recently started
 -P, --parent <PPID,...>   match only child processes of the given parent
 -s, --session <SID,...>   match session IDs
 -t, --terminal <tty,...>  match by controlling terminal
 -u, --euid <ID,...>       match by effective IDs
 -U, --uid <ID,...>        match by real IDs
 -x, --exact               match exactly with the command name
 -F, --pidfile <file>      read PIDs from file
 -L, --logpidfile          fail if PID file is not locked
 --ns <PID>                match the processes that belong to the same
                           namespace as <pid>
 --nslist <ns,...>         list which namespaces will be considered for
                           the --ns option.
                           Available namespaces: ipc, mnt, net, pid, user, uts

 -h, --help     display this help and exit
 -V, --version  output version information and exit

For more details see pgrep(1).