--- name: "pcp-ps" section: "1" platform: "linux" package: "pcp" version: "7.2.2-2" release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/pcp-ps" --- # pcp-ps(1) Report statistics for Linux Process. ## NAME **pcp-ps** - Report statistics for Linux Process. ## SYNOPSIS **pcp** \[*pcp options*\] **ps** \[**-e**\] \[**-U** \[*username*\]\] \[**-V** *--version*\] \[**-c** *Command name*\] \[**-P** *pid1,pid2..*\] \[**-p** *pid1,pid2..*\] \[**-o** *col1,col2... or ALL*\] \[**-O** *%mem,%cpu*\] \[**-d**\] \[**-Z** *timezone*\] \[**-z**\] \[**-?**\] ## DESCRIPTION The **pcp-ps** command is used for monitoring individual process running on the system. Using various options it helps a user to see useful information related to the processes. This information includes CPU percentage, memory and stack usage, scheduling and priority. By default **pcp-ps** reports live data for the local host. ## OPTIONS When invoked via the [**pcp**(1)](/pcp/1.md) command, the **-h**/ **--host**, **-O**/ **--origin**, **-t**/ **--interval**, **-Z**/ **--timezone** and several other *pcp options* become indirectly available; refer to [**PCPIntro**(1)](/PCPIntro/1.md) for a complete description of these options. The additional command line options available for **pcp-ps** are: - **-e** Display all the process.\ | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | PID | Process identifier. | | TTY | The terminal associated with the process. | | TIME | The cumulated CPU time in \[DD-\]hh:mm:ss format (time=TIME). | | CMD | The task name along with its complete arguments. | | - **-c \[*command name*\]** Display the real Command name of the tasks being monitored instead of the UID. If *command name* is specified, then only tasks belonging to the specified command are displayed. - **-U** \[*username*\]**,** **--user-name**\[=*username*\] Display the real user name of the tasks being monitored instead of the UID. If *username* is specified, then only tasks belonging to the specified user are displayed. - **-V****,** **--version** Print version number then exit. - **-p** *pid1,pid2..***,** **--pid-list**=*pid1,pid2..* Display only processes with the listed PIDs. - **-P** *ppid1,ppid2..***,** **--ppid-list**=*ppid1,ppid2..* Display only processes with the listed PPIDs. - **-o** User-defined format. It is a single argument in the form of a blank-separated or comma-separated list, which offers a way to specify individual output columns. The argument to -o are following: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | **COL** | **HEADER** | **DESCRIPTION** | | | | | | **%cpu** | %CPU | cpu utilization of the process | | **%mem** | %MEM | physical memory on the machine expressed as a percentage | | **start** | START | time the command started | | **time** | TIME | accumulated cpu time, user + system | | **cls** | CLS | scheduling class of the process. | | **cmd** | CMD | see **Task name**. (alias args, command). | | **args** | COMMAND | To display the full program name with its arguments (use at last position in -o list to view full command) | | **pid** | PID | The process ID | | **ppid** | PPID | Parent process ID | | **pri** | PRI | Priority of the process | | **state** | S | see **s** | | **rss** | RSS | the non-swapped physical memory that a task has used | | **rtprio** | RTPRIO | real-time priority | | **pname** | Pname | Process name | | **tty** | TT | controlling tty (terminal) | | **uid** | UID | see **euid** | | **uname** | USER | see **euser** | | **vsize** | VSZ | see **vsz** | | **wchan** | WCHAN | name of the kernel function in which the process is sleeping | ## STANDARD FORMAT SPECIFIERS Here are the different keywords that may be used to control the output format (e.g. with option **-o**) or to sort the selected processes For example: **pcp-ps -o pid,user,args** | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | **CODE** | **HEADER** | **DESCRIPTION** | | | | | | **pid** | PID | a number representing the process ID | | **%cpu** | %CPU | %cpu utilization of the process in "##.#" format. Currently, it is the CPU time used divided by the time the process has been running (cputime/realtime ratio), expressed as a percentage. | | **%mem** | %MEM | %ratio of the process's resident set size to the physical memory on the machine, expressed as a percentage. | | **args** | COMMAND | Command with all its arguments as a string. Modifications to the arguments may be shown. The output in this column may contain spaces. A process marked \ is partly dead, waiting to be fully destroyed by its parent. Sometimes the process args will be unavailable; when this happens,will instead print the executable name in brackets. | | **class** | CLS | scheduling class of the process. Field's possible values are: - not reported TS SCHED\_OTHER FF SCHED\_FIFO RR SCHED\_RR B SCHED\_BATCH ISO SCHED\_ISO IDL SCHED\_IDLE DLN SCHED\_DEADLINE ? unknown value | | **s** | S | minimal state display. See also **state** if you want additional information displayed. | | **euid** | EUID | effective user ID. | | **vsz** | VSZ | virtual memory size of the process in KiB (1024-byte units). Device mappings are currently excluded; this is subject to change. | | **euser** | EUSER | effective user name. This will be the textual user ID, if it can be obtained and the field width permits, or a decimal representation otherwise. | | **All** | N/A | This option shows USER, PID, PPID, PRI, %CPU, %MEM, VSZ, RSS, S, START, TIME, WCHAN and COMMAND. | - **-O *%mem,%cpu***, **--sort=*%mem,%cpu*** Sort the output processes by the specified column. This sorting can now be used in conjunction with the **-o** option to sort on any user-specified output column (e.g., -o pid,%mem -O %mem). The column given to -O/--sort must appear in the -o list. If the sorting column is missing from the output format, an error will be shown. (In case of an unsupported or missing field name, sorting will default to %cpu.) - **-d** debug mode\ Enable debug mode, which will cause debug messages to be written to stdout. - **-Z** *timezone***,** **--timezone=***timezone* By default, **pcp-ps** reports the time of day according to the local timezone on the system where **pcp-ps** is run. The **-Z** option changes the timezone to *timezone* in the format of the environment variable **TZ** as described in [**environ**(7)](/environ/7.md). - **-z** , **--hostzone** Change the reporting timezone to the local timezone at the host that is the source of the performance metrics. When replaying a PCP archive that was captured in a foreign timezone, the **-z** option would almost always be used (the default reporting timezone is the local timezone, which may not be the same as the timezone of the PCP archive). - **-?** , **--help** Display usage message and exit. ## NOTES **pcp-ps** is inspired by the [**ps**(1)](/ps/1.md) command and aims to be command line and output compatible with it. ## PCP ENVIRONMENT Environment variables with the prefix **PCP\_** are used to parameterize the file and directory names used by PCP. On each installation, the file */etc/pcp.conf* contains the local values for these variables. The **$PCP\_CONF** variable may be used to specify an alternative configuration file, as described in [**pcp.conf**(5)](/pcp.conf/5.md). For environment variables affecting PCP tools, see [**pmGetOptions**(3)](/pmGetOptions/3.md). ## SEE ALSO [**PCPIntro**(1)](/PCPIntro/1.md), [**pcp**(1)](/pcp/1.md), [**pcp-ps**(1)](/pcp-ps/1.md), [**python**(1)](/python/1.md), [**pmParseInterval**(3)](/pmParseInterval/3.md), [**strftime**(3)](/strftime/3.md) and [**environ**(7)](/environ/7.md).