Zombie Process
A zombie process is a process in the Unix or Linux operating system that has completed its execution but still has an entry in the process table, which is a data structure used to keep track of all running processes. Zombie processes typically occur when a parent process fails to wait for one of its child processes to complete, causing the child process to become a “zombie”.
How to Find Zombie Process on Ubuntu
To find zombie processes on an Ubuntu system, you can use the ps command with the aux option. This command will show information about all processes, including zombie processes. You can filter the output to only show zombie processes by adding the state Z condition to the command, like this:
ps aux | grep ZThis will display information about all zombie processes, including their process ID (PID), parent PID (PPID), user name, and other information. If you find a zombie process on your system, you should try to identify the parent process and determine why it isn’t reaping its child processes. If the parent process is not functioning correctly, you may need to restart the parent process or the entire system.
Zombie processes are generally not a serious problem, but they can indicate that a system is not functioning correctly, and they can consume system resources, such as memory and file descriptors. Therefore, it is important to monitor your system for zombie processes and address them promptly.