This document is a Mac OS X manual page. Manual pages are a command-line technology for providing documentation. You can view these manual pages locally using the man(1) command. These manual pages come from many different sources, and thus, have a variety of writing styles.

For more information about the manual page format, see the manual page for manpages(5).

KILL(1)                   BSD General Commands Manual                  KILL(1)

NAME
     kill -- terminate or signal a process

SYNOPSIS
     kill [-s signal_name] pid ...
     kill -l [exit_status]
     kill -signal_name pid ...
     kill -signal_number pid ...

DESCRIPTION
     The kill utility sends a signal to the processes specified by the pid operand(s).

     Only the super-user may send signals to other users' processes.

     The options are as follows:

     -s signal_name
             A symbolic signal name specifying the signal to be sent instead of the default TERM.

     -l [exit_status]
             If no operand is given, list the signal names; otherwise, write the signal name corresponding
             to exit_status.

     -signal_name
             A symbolic signal name specifying the signal to be sent instead of the default TERM.

     -signal_number
             A non-negative decimal integer, specifying the signal to be sent instead of the default TERM.

     The following pids have special meanings:
     -1      If superuser, broadcast the signal to all processes; otherwise broadcast to all processes
             belonging to the user.

     Some of the more commonly used signals:
     1       HUP (hang up)
     2       INT (interrupt)
     3       QUIT (quit)
     6       ABRT (abort)
     9       KILL (non-catchable, non-ignorable kill)
     14      ALRM (alarm clock)
     15      TERM (software termination signal)

     Some shells may provide a builtin kill command which is similar or identical to this utility.  Consult
     the builtin(1) manual page.

SEE ALSO
     builtin(1), csh(1), killall(1), ps(1), kill(2), sigaction(2)

STANDARDS
     The kill function is expected to be IEEE Std 1003.2 (``POSIX.2'') compatible.

HISTORY
     A kill command appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.

BUGS
     A replacement for the command ``kill 0'' for csh(1) users should be provided.

BSD                             April 28, 1995                             BSD