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Re: unable to kill -9 for zombie process

 
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Yarok
Regular Advisor

unable to kill -9 for zombie process

Hello,

I tried to kill a zombie process but it could not stopted (top -> kill -9 PID).

top indicated of 5 zombie and several sleep processes.

The zombie process belong to other user.
I tried to rlogin to this user but it didnt work.

I tried to find an equivalent command pstree (in order to kill the parent) but I count found.

Please advice,

Yaron
17 REPLIES 17
sangilak
Trusted Contributor
Solution

Re: unable to kill -9 for zombie process

Hi,


There is a 'pstree' script for HP-UX, see attachment... Hope that will help you!

BTW, there are quite a few threads on ITRC that discuss killing zombie processes, have a look at for example:
http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/System-Administration/Zombie-process-utilising-99-of-the-CPU/m-p/4722622#M385884

sangilak

Yarok
Regular Advisor

Re: unable to kill -9 for zombie process

Thank you,

I red the "Zombie process utilising 99% of the CPU issue".

How can I install the script?

What location?

Can it harm the system?

BR,

Yaron
sangilak
Trusted Contributor

Re: unable to kill -9 for zombie process

Hi,


It is just a shell script. So just put it in /tmp (for example), rename it to 'ptree', give it executable permissions and run the script. See a copy/past from the script's code below:

# SYNOPSIS
# ptree [-n] [pid]
# ptree [-n] [pid] [level] [datafile]
#
# DESCRIPTION
# This command will print the process tree for the
# process identified by pid. When called by the user,
# only the first format shown should be used. If the
# process ID (pid) is not passed, process 1 is assumed.
#
# The second format of this command is only used when
# this command calls itself recursively to print the next
# level of the process tree.
#
# -n Do not recurse


I found the script in another thread on ITRC and it looks harmless to me. But just have a look at the code yourself if you have any doubts.


sangilak
Dennis Handly
Acclaimed Contributor

Re: unable to kill -9 for zombie process

You can't kill zombies, you can only kill the zombie master.

>in order to kill the parent

You can use "ps -fp PID" to find the zombie master.
Yarok
Regular Advisor

Re: unable to kill -9 for zombie process

Hi,

I put is on tmp
change the name for ptree
#chmod 777 ptree
#ptree
ptree: command not found

then I tried to move it to .sh
# mv ptree ptree.sh
#ptree.sh
/sbin/sh: ptree: not found.

What did I miss?
BR,

Yaron
sangilak
Trusted Contributor

Re: unable to kill -9 for zombie process

Hi,


Try (depending what the name of the script now is):
# ./ptree
or
# ./ptree.sh

Or just specify the full path:
# /tmp/ptree
or
# /tmp/ptree.sh


sangilak
Emil Velez
Honored Contributor

Re: unable to kill -9 for zombie process

you cant kill a zombie.. It is already dead.. It is a process table entry that is not being updated. For some reason the parent process has not cleared that entry.

Some kind of bad code.

It is not using 99% of the cpu.. look at your cpu utilization in top.

ONly way to get rid of zombies is to reboot if they do not go away after a few minutes.

Tor-Arne Nostdal
Trusted Contributor

Re: unable to kill -9 for zombie process

Ha, ha... that's a good one.
A zombie who uses >90% CPU...
Is it dead or is it dead...

Sleep processes - yes it is normal that some processes have to wait for different events to take place.

rlogin - require specific setup of trust between your users. Normally you can not do rlogin (remote login) to users.
If you ar root user on the same machine you could use the su command to "login" as this user 'su user' or 'su - user' see man su

/Tor-Arne
I'm trying to become President of the state I'm in...
Dennis Handly
Acclaimed Contributor

Re: unable to kill -9 for zombie process

>Emil: It is not using 99% of the CPU. look at your CPU utilization in top.

That's the problem, top gets it wrong.

>Only way to get rid of zombies is to reboot

That's not the only way. If you kill the zombie master, they will be reaped.