Can a child process kill the parent process ?

sree_ec · 11-18-2010, 09:07 AM

Is it possible to kill a parent process from child ?
I just want to handle an error condition where a process has to launch the same process once more and then get killed by itself..
Is it possible/?

JohnGraham · 11-18-2010, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sree_ec

Is it possible to kill a parent process from child ?
I just want to handle an error condition where a process has to launch the same process once more and then get killed by itself..
Is it possible/?

Certainly. For example, open a terminal and do this:

Code:

$ ps
  PID TTY          TIME CMD
27469 pts/3    00:00:00 bash
27788 pts/3    00:00:00 ps
$ bash
$ ps
  PID TTY          TIME CMD
27469 pts/3    00:00:00 bash
27804 pts/3    00:00:00 bash
27840 pts/3    00:00:00 ps
$ kill -KILL ${PPID}

And you can kill the parent bash (pid=27469) from the child bash (pid=27804).

sree_ec · 11-18-2010, 11:05 AM

So Can I do it from a c program as well??

catkin · 11-18-2010, 11:18 AM

Yes but why not try it?

Aquarius_Girl · 11-19-2010, 03:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sree_ec

So Can I do it from a c program as well??

Checkout the following code and read up the coloured functions in Google/man pages.

Code:

#include <stdio.h> 
#include <unistd.h>

int main()
{
  pid_t pID = fork();

  /* child process */
  if (pID == 0)
    {
      printf ("\nReady to murder the parent!\n");
      kill (getppid(), 9);
    }
  /* parent process */
  else
    {
      printf ("\nLet the child execute first!\n");
      wait(0);
    }
}

sree_ec · 11-19-2010, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anishakaul

Checkout the following code and read up the coloured functions in Google/man pages.

Code:

#include <stdio.h> 
#include <unistd.h>

int main()
{
  pid_t pID = fork();

  /* child process */
  if (pID == 0)
    {
      printf ("\nReady to murder the parent!\n");
      kill (getppid(), 9);
    }
  /* parent process */
  else
    {
      printf ("\nLet the child execute first!\n");
      wait(0);
    }
}

I tried with my program already ..But still , thanks for the reply [ I'm not rude

]...

Aquarius_Girl · 11-19-2010, 06:40 AM

Yeah, I noticed the thread marked SOLVED but then you had not posted the solution ? It is always better to post the solution so that others can benefit too!

Aquarius_Girl · 11-19-2010, 06:47 AM

and secondly I would like to request you to modify your thread title to something more meaningful like this:

Quote:

Can a child process kill the parent process ?

A thread with a proper title comes up in Google searches and thus others can benefit too.

sree_ec · 11-20-2010, 05:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anishakaul

and secondly I would like to request you to modify your thread title to something more meaningful like this:
A thread with a proper title comes up in Google searches and thus others can benefit too.

Accepted!