---
name: "condor_procd"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "condor"
version: "23.9.6+dfsg-2.1+b10"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/condor_procd"
---

# condor\_procd(1)

HTCondor Manual Track and manage process families

## NAME

condor\_procd - HTCondor Manual

Track and manage process families

## SYNOPSIS

**condor\_procd** **-h**

**condor\_procd** **-A** *address-file* \[**options** \]

## DESCRIPTION

*condor\_procd* tracks and manages process families on behalf of the HTCondor daemons. It may track families of PIDs via relationships such as: direct parent/child, environment variables, UID, and supplementary group IDs. Management of the PID families include

- •

  registering new families or new members of existing families

- •

  getting usage information

- •

  signaling families for operations such as suspension, continuing, or killing the family

- •

  getting a snapshot of the tree of families

In a regular HTCondor installation, this program is not intended to be used or executed by any human.

The required argument, **-A** *address-file*, is the path and file name of the address file which is the named pipe that clients must use to speak with the *condor\_procd*.

## OPTIONS

- **-h**

  Print out usage information and exit.

- **-D**

  Wait for the debugger. Initially sleep 30 seconds before beginning normal function.

- **-C** *principal*

  The *principal* is the UID of the owner of the named pipe that clients must use to speak to the *condor\_procd*.

- **-L** *log-file*

  A file the *condor\_procd* will use to write logging information.

- **-E**

  When specified, another tool such as the *procd\_ctl* tool must allocate the GID associated with a process. When this option is not specified, the *condor\_procd* will allocate the GID itself.

- **-P** *PID*

  If not specified, the *condor\_procd* will use the *condor\_procd* 's parent, which may not be PID 1 on Unix, as the parent of the *condor\_procd* and the root of the tracking family. When not specified, if the *condor\_procd* 's parent PID dies, the *condor\_procd* exits. When specified, the *condor\_procd* will track this *PID* family in question and not also exit if the PID exits.

- **-S** *seconds*

  The maximum number of seconds the *condor\_procd* will wait between taking snapshots of the tree of families. Different clients to the *condor\_procd* can specify different snapshot times. The quickest snapshot time is the one performed by the *condor\_procd*. When this option is not specified, a default value of 60 seconds is used.

- **-G** *min-gid max-gid*

  If the **-E** option is not specified, then track process families using a self-allocated, free GID out of the inclusive range specified by *min-gid* and *max-gid*. This means that if a new process shows up using a previously known GID, the new process will automatically associate into the process family assigned that GID. If the **-E** option is specified, then instead of self-allocating the GID, the *procd\_ctl* tool must be used to associate the GID with the PID root of the family. The associated GID must still be in the range specified. This is a Linux-only feature.

- **-K** *windows-softkill-binary*

  This is the path and executable name of the *condor\_softkill.exe* binary. It is used to send softkill signals to process families. This is a Windows-only feature.

## DEALING WITH SHORT READS

For unknown reasons, on Linux, attemps to read the list of PIDs from the /proc filesystem do not always return all of the PIDs on the system.  The *condor\_procd* attempts to detect when this occurs, using two methods.

If the list of PIDs does not include PID 1, the *condor\_procd*'s own PID, or the PID of the *condor\_procd*'s parent (which may be PID 1), then the list must be incomplete, and the *condor\_procd* immediately retries the read.

Additionally, the *condor\_procd* compares the number of PIDs it just read to the number of PIDs from the last time it (successfully) checked.  If the number is too much smaller, it immediately retries.  The default threshold is 0.90, meaning that if the current read has 90% or fewer of the last read's PIDs, it's considered invalid.  In our testing, this threshold was met by roughly 1 in 4000 reads, but successfully detected all real short reads.  If you need to adjust the threshold, you may do so by setting the environment variable \_CONDOR\_PROCAPI\_RETRY\_FRACTION.  (In the normal case, simply have it in the environment when the *condor\_master* starts up.)

If a retried read is incomplete (according to either method), the *condor\_procd* returns the results of the previous read.

## GENERAL REMARKS

This program may be used in a stand alone mode, independent of HTCondor, to track process families. The programs *procd\_ctl* and *gidd\_alloc* are used with the *condor\_procd* in stand alone mode to interact with the daemon and to inquire about certain state of running processes on the machine, respectively.

## EXIT STATUS

*condor\_procd* will exit with a status value of 0 (zero) upon success, and it will exit with the value 1 (one) upon failure.

## AUTHOR

HTCondor Team

## COPYRIGHT

1990-2024, Center for High Throughput Computing, Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, US. Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.