Here’s a breakdown of the Linux process management commands (ps, wait, sleep, exit, and kill) with
their purpose, usage, and Windows equivalents:
1. ps
• Purpose: Displays information about active processes.
• Linux Command:
• ps
• ps aux
• ps -ef
(Shows a list of processes with various details.)
• Windows Equivalent:
• tasklist
(Lists all running processes.)
o For more detailed output, use PowerShell:
o Get-Process
2. wait
• Purpose: Pauses the execution of a script until a specified process finishes.
• Linux Command:
• wait PID
(Waits for the process with the specified PID to finish.)
• Windows Equivalent:
o PowerShell provides similar functionality:
o Start-Process notepad -Wait
(Waits until the notepad process ends before proceeding.)
3. sleep
• Purpose: Delays the execution of a command or script for a specified time.
• Linux Command:
• sleep 5
(Pauses execution for 5 seconds.)
• Windows Equivalent:
o In Command Prompt:
o timeout 5
(Pauses for 5 seconds.)
o In PowerShell:
o Start-Sleep -Seconds 5
4. exit
• Purpose: Terminates a shell session or script.
• Linux Command:
• exit
(Exits the shell or script with an optional status code.)
• Windows Equivalent:
• exit
(Closes the Command Prompt or PowerShell session.)
5. kill
• Purpose: Sends a signal to a process to terminate it (or perform other actions).
• Linux Command:
• kill PID
• kill -9 PID
(Terminates the process with the given PID. -9 forces the termination.)
• Windows Equivalent:
o Using Command Prompt:
o taskkill /PID PID
o taskkill /F /PID PID
(The /F flag forces the termination.)
o Using PowerShell:
o Stop-Process -Id PID
Summary of Equivalents:
Linux Command Windows Command Windows PowerShell
ps tasklist Get-Process
wait No direct equivalent Start-Process -Wait
sleep timeout Start-Sleep
exit exit exit
kill taskkill Stop-Process
Let me know if you'd like further examples or explanations!
