Procs

procs #

procs is a replacement for ps written in Rust.

Features #

  • Colored and human-readable output
    • Automatic theme detection based on terminal background
  • Multi-column keyword search
  • Some additional information which are not supported by ps
    • TCP/UDP port
    • Read/Write throughput
    • Docker container name
    • More memory information
  • Pager support
  • Watch mode (like top)
  • Tree view

Platform #

  • Linux is supported.
  • macOS is experimentally supported.
    • macOS version is checked on Travis CI environment only.
    • The issues caused by real-machine are welcome.
  • Windows is supported.

Installation #

Download binary #

Download from release page, and extract to the directory in PATH.

Packaging status #

Nixpkgs #

You can install from Nixpkgs.

nix-env --install procs

snapcraft #

You can install from snapcraft.

sudo snap install procs

homebrew #

You can install from homebrew.

brew install procs

MacPorts #

You can install from MacPorts.

sudo port install procs

Alpine Linux #

You can install from the Alpine Linux repository.

The correct repository (see above link for the most up-to-date information) should be enabled before apk add.

sudo apk add procs

Arch Linux #

You can install from the Arch Linux community repository.

sudo pacman -S procs

Scoop #

You can install with scoop.

scoop install procs

Fedora #

sudo dnf install procs

RPM #

You can install with rpm.

sudo rpm -i https://github.com/dalance/procs/releases/download/v0.14.0/procs-0.14.0-1.x86_64.rpm

Cargo #

You can install with cargo.

cargo install procs

Installation Notes #

Permissions issues #

On macOS, normal users can’t access any information on other users’ processes. On Linux, normal users can’t access some information (ex. Read/Write throughput) of other users.

If you want to show this information, you should use sudo.

$ sudo procs
[sudo] password for ...:

If you want to skip password input, you can add the following entry to /etc/sudoers.

[user or group] ALL= NOPASSWD: [procs binary path]
// ex. myuser ALL= NOPASSWD: /usr/local/bin/procs

Usage #

In the following screenshots, config/large.toml is used as the configuration.

Show all processes #

Type procs only. It shows the information of all processes.

procs

procs

Search by non-numeric keyword #

If you add any keyword as argument, it is matched to USER, Command by default.

procs zsh

If you want to add columns matching to non-numeric keyword, nonnumeric_search option can be used in configuration file.

procs_zsh

Search by numeric keyword #

If a numeric is used as the keyword, it is matched to PID by default. Numeric is treated as exact match, and non-numeric is treated as partial match by default.

procs --or 6000 60000 60001 16723

If you want to add columns matching to numeric keyword, numeric_search option can be used in configuration file.

procs_port

Note that procfs permissions only allow identifying listening ports for processes owned by the current user, so not all ports will show up unless run as root.

Logical operation of search keywords #

If there are some keywords, logical operation between the keywords can be specified by commandline option.

  • --and : The processes that match with all keywords are shown.
  • --or : The processes that match with any keyword are shown.
  • --nand: The processes are shown unless these match with all keywords.
  • --nor : The processes are shown unless these match with any keyword.

The default operation can be specified in the configuration file. See [search] section.

Show Docker container name #

If you have access permission to docker daemon ( unix:///var/run/docker.sock ), Docker column is added.

procs growi

procs_docker

Note that procs gets the container information through UNIX domain socket, so Docker Toolbox on macOS (doesn’t use UNIX domain socket) is not supported. Docker Desktop for Mac is supported but not tested.

Pager #

If output lines exceed terminal height, pager is used automatically. This behavior and pager command can be specified by configuration file.

Linux / macOS #

On Linux and macOS, less is the default pager. If there is not less, more is used. Instead of them, built-in pager can be used by configuration use_builtin.

Windows #

On Windows, built-in pager is always used.

Watch mode #

If --watch or --watch-interval <second> option is used, procs automatically updates output like top. If --watch is used, the update interval becomes 1s. The update interval can be specified by the argument of --watch-interval. There are some keyboard shortcuts to control.

  • n: Change the sort column to the next column
  • p: Change the sort column to the previous column
  • a: Change the sort order to ascending
  • d: Change the sort order to descending
  • q: Quit

Tree view #

If --tree option is used, processes are sorted by dependency order and dependency tree is shown at left side.

procs --tree

procs_tree

If TreeSlot column exists in config, dependency tree is shown at the slot.

Sort column #

Column sort order can be changed by --sorta or --sortd option. The last character of --sorta and --sortd means sort order: “a"scending and “d"escending.

The column for sort is selected by the option keyword. The keyword is matched with column kind that is shown by --list option. If --sorta cputime, column is sorted by CpuTime with ascending order. If --sortd rss, column is sorted by VmRss with descending order. The keyword is matched partially and case is ignored.

The default sort is specified by [sort] section in the configuration file.

procs --sortd cpu

procs_sort

Insert column #

--insert option inserts new column to the position of Slot column or MultiSlot column. The column for insert is selected by the option keyword. The keyword is the same as sort option. A Slot column can be used by an inserted column. If many insertions are required, many Slot columns should be added. A MultiSlot column can be used by many inserted columns. If there is a MultiSlot, all the remaining columns are inserted to the MultiSlot, and the subsequent Slot / MultiSlot is not used. Unused Slot / MultiSlot is not shown.

Shell completion #

--gen-completion option generates shell completion files under the current directory. The following shells are supported.

  • zsh
  • bash
  • fish
  • powershell
  • elvish

--gen-completion-out option generates shell completion to stdout. You can source it directly on some shells.

source <(procs --gen-completion-out bash)

Configuration #

Configuration path #

You can change configuration by writing a configuration file. There are some configuration examples in config directory of this repository. config/large.toml is the default configuration before procs v0.9.21.

The location of the configuration file is OS-specific:

  • Linux: ~/.config/procs/config.toml
  • macOS: ~/Library/Preferences/com.github.dalance.procs/config.toml
  • Windows: ~/AppData/Roaming/dalance/procs/config/config.toml

For compatibility, if ~/.procs.toml exists, it will be preferred to the OS-specific locations.

Specify a configuration from command line #

--use-config option can specify a built-in configuration. --load-config option can specify a configuration file path.

Configuration example #

The complete example of a configuration file can be generated by --gen-config option.

[[columns]]
kind = "Pid"
style = "BrightYellow|Yellow"
numeric_search = true
nonnumeric_search = false

[[columns]]
kind = "Username"
style = "BrightGreen|Green"
numeric_search = false
nonnumeric_search = true
align = "Right"

[style]
header = "BrightWhite|Black"
unit = "BrightWhite|Black"
tree = "BrightWhite|Black"

[style.by_percentage]
color_000 = "BrightBlue|Blue"
color_025 = "BrightGreen|Green"
color_050 = "BrightYellow|Yellow"
color_075 = "BrightRed|Red"
color_100 = "BrightRed|Red"

[style.by_state]
color_d = "BrightRed|Red"
color_r = "BrightGreen|Green"
color_s = "BrightBlue|Blue"
color_t = "BrightCyan|Cyan"
color_z = "BrightMagenta|Magenta"
color_x = "BrightMagenta|Magenta"
color_k = "BrightYellow|Yellow"
color_w = "BrightYellow|Yellow"
color_p = "BrightYellow|Yellow"

[style.by_unit]
color_k = "BrightBlue|Blue"
color_m = "BrightGreen|Green"
color_g = "BrightYellow|Yellow"
color_t = "BrightRed|Red"
color_p = "BrightRed|Red"
color_x = "BrightBlue|Blue"

[search]
numeric_search = "Exact"
nonnumeric_search = "Partial"
logic = "And"

[display]
show_self = false
show_thread = false
show_thread_in_tree = true
cut_to_terminal = true
cut_to_pager = false
cut_to_pipe = false
color_mode = "Auto"

[sort]
column = 0
order = "Ascending"

[docker]
path = "unix:///var/run/docker.sock"

[pager]
mode = "Auto"

[[columns]] section #

[[columns]] section defines which columns are used. The first [[columns]] is shown at left side, and the last is shown at right side.

Key Value Default Description
kind See kind list Column type
style See style list Column style
numeric_search true, false false Whether the column can be matched with numeric keywords
nonnumeric_search true, false false Whether the column can be matched with non-numeric keywords
align Left, Right, Center Left Text alignment
max_width [Number] Maximum column width
min_width [Number] Minimum column width
header [String] Alternate header description

kind list #

procs kind ps STANDARD FORMAT Description Linux macOS Windows
Command args Command with all arguments o o o
ContextSw -not supported- Context switch count o o
CpuTime cputime Cumulative CPU time o o o
Docker -not supported- Docker container name o o
Eip eip Instruction pointer o
ElapsedTime -not supported- Elapsed time o o o
Env e output modifier Environment variables o
Esp esp Stack pointer o
FileName comm File name o
Gid egid Group ID o o o
GidFs fgid File system group ID o
GidReal rgid Real group ID o o
GidSaved sgid Saved group ID o o
Group egroup Group name o o o
GroupFs fgroup File system group name o
GroupReal rgroup Real group name o o
GroupSaved sgroup Saved group name o o
MajFlt maj_flt Major page fault count o o o
MinFlt min_flt Minor page fault count o o
MultiSlot -not supported- Slot for --insert option o o o
Nice ni Nice value o o
Pgid pgid Process group ID o o
Pid pid Process ID ( or Thread ID sorrunded by [] ) o o o
Policy policy Scheduling policy o o
Ppid ppid Parent process ID o o o
Priority pri Priority o o o
Processor psr Currently assigned processor o
ReadBytes -not supported- Read bytes from storage o o o
RtPriority rtprio Real-time priority o
SecContext label Security context o
Separator -not supported- Show | for column separation o o o
Session sid Session ID o o
ShdPnd pending Pending signal mask for process o
SigBlk blocked Blocked signal mask o
SigCgt caught Caught signal mask o
SigIgn ignored Ignored signal mask o
SigPnd pending Pending signal mask for thread o
Slot -not supported- Slot for --insert option o o o
Ssb -not supported- Speculative store bypass status o
StartTime start_time Starting time o o o
State s Process state o o
TcpPort -not supported- Bound TCP ports o o
Threads nlwp Thread count o o
TreeSlot -not supported- Slot for tree column o o o
Tty tty Controlling TTY o o
UdpPort -not supported- Bound UDP ports o o
Uid euid User ID o o o
UidFs fuid File system user ID o
UidLogin -not supported- Login user ID o
UidReal ruid Real user ID o o
UidSaved suid Saved user ID o o
UsageCpu %cpu CPU utilization o o o
UsageMem %mem Memory utilization o o o
User euser User name o o o
UserFs fuser File system user name o
UserLogin -not supported- Login user name o
UserReal ruser Real user name o o
UserSaved suser Saved user name o o
VmData -not supported- Data size o
VmExe trs Text segments size o
VmHwm -not supported- Peak resident set size o o
VmLib -not supported- Library code size o
VmLock -not supported- Locked memory size o
VmPeak -not supported- Peak virtual memory size o o
VmPin -not supported- Pinned memory size o o
VmPte -not supported- Page table entries size o
VmRss rss Resident set size o o o
VmSize vsz Physical page size o o o
VmStack -not supported- Stack size o
VmSwap -not supported- Swapped-out virtual memory size o o
Wchan wchan Process sleeping kernel function o
WorkDir -not supported- Current working directory o
WriteByte -not supported- Write bytes to storage o o o

style list #

  • BrightBlack
  • BrightRed
  • BrightGreen
  • BrightYellow
  • BrightBlue
  • BrightMagenta
  • BrightCyan
  • BrightWhite
  • Black
  • Red
  • Green
  • Yellow
  • Blue
  • Magenta
  • Cyan
  • White
  • Color256
  • ByPercentage
  • ByState
  • ByUnit

There are some special styles like ByPercentage, ByState, ByUnit. These are the styles for value-aware coloring. For example, if ByUnit is chosen, color can be specified for each unit of value ( like K, M, G,,, ). The colors can be configured in [style.by_unit] section.

Other colors can be configured as the same as color.

[style] section #

[style] section defines colors of header, unit and each styles. The available list of color is below.

Subsection Key Value Default Description
header See color list BrightWhite|Black Header color
unit See color list BrightWhite|Black Unit color
tree See color list BrightWhite|Black Tree color
by_percentage color_000 See color list BrightBlue|Blue Color at 0% - 25%
by_percentage color_025 See color list BrightGreen|Green Color at 25% - 50%
by_percentage color_050 See color list BrightYellow|Yellow Color at 50% - 75%
by_percentage color_075 See color list BrightRed|Red Color at 75% - 100%
by_percentage color_100 See color list BrightRed|Red Color at 100% -
by_state color_d See color list BrightRed|Red Color at D state
by_state color_r See color list BrightGreen|Green Color at R state
by_state color_s See color list BrightBlue|Blue Color at S state
by_state color_t See color list BrightCyan|Cyan Color at T state
by_state color_z See color list BrightMagenta|Magenta Color at Z state
by_state color_x See color list BrightMagenta|Magenta Color at X state
by_state color_k See color list BrightYellow|Yellow Color at K state
by_state color_w See color list BrightYellow|Yellow Color at W state
by_state color_p See color list BrightYellow|Yellow Color at P state
by_unit color_k See color list BrightBlue|Blue Color at unit K
by_unit color_m See color list BrightGreen|Green Color at unit M
by_unit color_g See color list BrightYellow|Yellow Color at unit G
by_unit color_t See color list BrightRed|Red Color at unit T
by_unit color_p See color list BrightRed|Red Color at unit P
by_unit color_x See color list BrightBlue|Blue Color at other unit

color list #

  • BrightBlack
  • BrightRed
  • BrightGreen
  • BrightYellow
  • BrightBlue
  • BrightMagenta
  • BrightCyan
  • BrightWhite
  • Black
  • Red
  • Green
  • Yellow
  • Blue
  • Magenta
  • Cyan
  • White
  • Color256

Colors can be configured by theme through |.

style = "BrightWhite|Black" # BrightWhite for dark theme and Black for light theme
style = "BrightWhite"       # BrightWhite for both theme

The first color is for dark theme, and the second is for light theme. If only a color is specified, the color is applied to both theme.

Color256 can be specified by 0-255 value like below:

style = "223|112" # 223 for dark theme and 112 for light theme
style = "223"     # 223 for both theme

[search] section #

[search] section defines option for Keyword search.

Key Value Default Description
numeric_search Exact, Partial Exact Whether numeric keywords match exactly or partially
nonnumeric_search Exact, Partial Partial Whether non-numeric keywords match exactly or partially
logic And, Or, Nand, Nor And Logical operation between keywords
case Smart, Insensitive, Sensitive Smart Case sensitivity in search

case #

case is case sensitivity in search.

  • Smart: If keyword contains uppercase character, case sensitive search. Otherwise case insensitive search
  • Insensitive: case insensitive search
  • Sensitive: case sensitive search

[display] section #

[display] section defines option for output display.

Key Value Default Description
show_self true, false false Whether the self process ( procs ) is shown
show_thread true, false false Whether the thread information is shown ( Linux only )
show_thread_in_tree true, false true Whether the thread information is shown in tree mode ( Linux only )
show_parent_in_tree true, false true Whether the parent process is shown in tree mode
show_children_in_tree true, false true Whether the children processes are shown in tree mode
show_header true, false true Whether header row is shown
show_footer true, false false Whether footer row is shown
cut_to_terminal true, false true Whether output lines are truncated for output into terminal
cut_to_pager true, false false Whether output lines are truncated for output into pager
cut_to_pipe true, false false Whether output lines are truncated for output into pipe
color_mode Auto, Always, Disable Auto The default behavior of output coloring without --color commandline option
separator [String] String used as Separator
ascending [String] Ascending sort indicator
descending [String] Descending sort indicator
tree_symbols [String; 5] [│, ─, ┬, ├, └] Symbols used by tree view
abbr_sid true, false true Whether machine SID is abbreviated ( Windows only )
theme Auto, Dark, Light Auto Default theme

If color_mode is Auto, color is enabled for terminal and pager, disabled for pipe.

If theme is Auto, theme is detected from terminal automatically. Some terminal don’t support the automatic detection, so Dark or Light can be specified explicitly.

abbr_sid #

Windows SID is too long, so it is abbreviated by default. If abbr_sid is false, SID is fully shown like below:

S-1-5-21-789457439-2186958450-1652286173-1001

If abbr_sid is true, SID is shown like below:

S-1-5-21-...-1001

[sort] section #

[sort] section defines the column used for sort and sort order.

Key Value Default Description
column [Number] 0 Column number to used for sort
order Ascending, Descending Ascending Sort order

If column is 0, value is sorted by the left column.

[docker] section #

[docker] section defines how to communicate to docker daemon.

Key Value Default Description
path [Path] unix:///var/run/docker.sock UNIX domain socket to docker daemon

[pager] section #

[pager] section defines the behavior of pager.

Key Value Default Description
mode Auto, Always, Disable Auto The default behavior of pager usage without --pager commandline option
detect_width true, false false Whether auto mode detects terminal width overflow
use_builtin true, false false Whether built-in pager is used
command [Command] less -SR Pager command

If mode is Auto, pager is used only when output lines exceed terminal height. Default pager is less -SR ( if less is not found, more -f ).