kill

The kill command in Linux is used to terminate processes by sending specific signals to them. By default, it sends the SIGTERM signal (signal 15), which requests the process to stop gracefully. If a process doesn’t respond to SIGTERM, you can use SIGKILL (signal 9) to force immediate termination.

Example commands:

kill 1234

Kills the process with ID 1234 using the default SIGTERM signal.

kill -9 1234

Forces termination of process ID 1234 using the SIGKILL signal.

In conclusion, the kill command is a versatile tool for process management in Linux. It allows you to stop processes gracefully or forcefully, making it essential for maintaining system performance and security.