$ ps
Report a snapshot of current processes
DOCUMENTEDProcessesUbuntu 24.04 LTS baseline
Synopsis
ps [options]What it does
- `ps` reports process information at the time it is run.
- Linux supports multiple option styles; `ps aux` and `ps -ef` are common forms documented by procps-ng.
Examples
Show processes for the current shell
psShow all processes in a common Linux format
ps auxShow processes as a full listing
ps -efImportant details
These examples are intentionally conservative. Command behavior can still depend on filesystem state, permissions, locale, shell, installed package version, and other system configuration.
For exact option semantics, the linked authoritative documentation is the source of truth.