'ps' process names in brackets?

SlowCoder · 05-23-2008, 03:24 PM

Code:

...
root         3  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   11:16   0:00 [migration/0]
root         4  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   11:16   0:00 [ksoftirqd/0]
root         5  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   11:16   0:00 [watchdog/0]
root         6  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   11:16   0:00 [migration/1]
...

I'm trying to determine what it means when a process is labeled "[<processname>]". What I've noticed is that these processes have a STAT of S<, and have lower process IDs.

unSpawn · 05-23-2008, 04:18 PM

Low PIDs. Very perceptive of you. Low PIDs usually denote a process started by init on boot, but in this case, if you would have searched LQ for bracket+process, you'd find they're kernel processes (and I remember somebody explaining this better).

SlowCoder · 05-23-2008, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unSpawn

Low PIDs. Very perceptive of you. Low PIDs usually denote a process started by init on boot, but in this case, if you would have searched LQ for bracket+process, you'd find they're kernel processes (and I remember somebody explaining this better).

I did a previous search on Google, 'man ps', etc. I admit I did not directly search LQ. However, I did attempt it after your suggestion, and pulled up ... nothing interesting. Yes, I tried a variety of terms. All searches thus far have been fruitless.

unSpawn · 05-23-2008, 07:48 PM

Odd. I remember posting in a similar thread one or two months ago.