fuser
FUSER(1) User Commands FUSER(1)
NAME
fuser - identify processes using files or sockets
SYNOPSIS
fuser [-a|-s] [-4|-6] [-n space] [-signal] [-kimuv] name ...
fuser -l
fuser -V
DESCRIPTION
fuser displays the PIDs of processes using the specified files or file
systems. In the default display mode, each file name is followed by a
letter denoting the type of access:
c current directory.
e executable being run.
f open file. f is omitted in default display mode.
r root directory.
m mmap'ed file or shared library.
fuser returns a non-zero return code if none of the specified files is
accessed or in case of a fatal error. If at least one access has been
found, fuser returns zero.
In order to look up processes using TCP and UDP sockets, the corre-
sponding name space has to be selected with the -n option. By default
fuser will look in both IPv6 and IPv4 sockets. To change the default,
behavour, use the -4 and -6 options. The socket(s) can be specified by
the local and remote port, and the remote address. All fields are
optional, but commas in front of missing fields must be present:
[lcl_port][,[rmt_host][,[rmt_port]]]
Either symbolic or numeric values can be used for IP addresses and port
numbers.
OPTIONS
-a Show all files specified on the command line. By default, only
files that are accessed by at least one process are shown.
-k Kill processes accessing the file. Unless changed with -signal,
SIGKILL is sent. An fuser process never kills itself, but may
kill other fuser processes. The effective user ID of the process
executing fuser is set to its real user ID before attempting to
kill.
-i Ask the user for confirmation before killing a process. This
option is silently ignored if -k is not present too.
-l List all known signal names.
-m name specifies a file on a mounted file system or a block device
that is mounted. All processes accessing files on that file sys-
tem are listed. If a directory file is specified, it is auto-
matically changed to name/. to use any file system that might be
mounted on that directory.
-n space
Select a different name space. The name spaces file (file names,
the default), udp (local UDP ports), and tcp (local TCP ports)
are supported. For ports, either the port number or the sym-
bolic name can be specified. If there is no ambiguity, the
shortcut notation name/space (e.g. name/proto) can be used.
-s Silent operation. -u and -v are ignored in this mode. -a must
not be used with -s.
-signal
Use the specified signal instead of SIGKILL when killing pro-
cesses. Signals can be specified either by name (e.g. -HUP) or
by number (e.g. -1).
-u Append the user name of the process owner to each PID.
-v Verbose mode. Processes are shown in a ps-like style. The fields
PID, USER and COMMAND are similar to ps. ACCESS shows how the
process accesses the file. If the access is by the kernel (e.g.
in the case of a mount point, a swap file, etc.), kernel is
shown instead of the PID.
-V Display version information.
-4 Search only for IPv4 sockets. This option must not be used with
the -6 option and only has an effect with the tcp and udp names-
paces.
-6 Search only for IPv6 sockets. This option must not be used with
the -4 option and only has an effect with the tcp and udp names-
paces.
- Reset all options and set the signal back to SIGKILL.
FILES
/proc location of the proc file system
EXAMPLES
fuser -km /home kills all processes accessing the file system /home in
any way.
if fuser -s /dev/ttyS1; then :; else something; fi invokes something if
no other process is using /dev/ttyS1.
fuser telnet/tcp shows all processes at the (local) TELNET port.
RESTRICTIONS
Processes accessing the same file or file system several times in the
same way are only shown once.
If the same object is specified several times on the command line, some
of those entries may be ignored.
fuser may only be able to gather partial information unless run with
privileges. As a consequence, files opened by processes belonging to
other users may not be listed and executables may be classified as
mapped only.
Installing fuser SUID root will avoid problems associated with partial
information, but may be undesirable for security and privacy reasons.
udp and tcp name spaces, and UNIX domain sockets can't be searched with
kernels older than 1.3.78.
udp and tcp currently work with IPv6 and IPv4, but the address fields
can only be IPv4 addresses.
Accesses by the kernel are only shown with the -v option.
The -k option only works on processes. If the user is the kernel, fuser
will print an advice, but take no action beyond that.
AUTHOR
Werner Almesberger <Werner.Almesberger@epfl.ch>
SEE ALSO
kill(1), killall(1), lsof(8), ps(1), kill(2)
Linux October 25, 1999 FUSER(1)
