The pargs and preap Commands

Two new commands, pargs and preap, improve process debugging. The pargs command can be used to print the arguments and environment variables associated with a live process or core file. The preap command can be used to remove defunct (zombie) processes.

The pargs command solves a long-standing problem of being unable to display all the arguments that are passed to a process with the ps command. Use the pargs command in combination with the pgrep command to display the arguments that are passed to a process, as follows:

# pargs `pgrep ttymon`
579:	/usr/lib/saf/ttymon -g -h -p system-name console login:  
-T sun -d /dev/console -l 
argv[0]: /usr/lib/saf/ttymon
argv[1]: -g
argv[2]: -h
argv[3]: -p
argv[4]: system-name console login: 
argv[5]: -T
argv[6]: sun
argv[7]: -d
argv[8]: /dev/console
argv[9]: -l
argv[10]: console
argv[11]: -m
argv[12]: ldterm,ttcompat
548:	/usr/lib/saf/ttymon
argv[0]: /usr/lib/saf/ttymon

Use the pargs -e command to display the environment variables that are associated with a process, as in the following example:

$ pargs -e 6763
6763: tcsh
envp[0]: DISPLAY=:0.0

You can use the pargs and preap commands to examine any process that you have the privileges to examine. As superuser, you can examine any process.

You can use the preap command to clean up a defunct (also called a zombie) process. A zombie process has not yet had its exit status reaped (or claimed) by its parent. These processes are generally harmless, but can consume system resources if they are numerous.

For information on using the preap command, see preap(1). For information on the using the pargs command, see proc(1).