HB Computer Security | Aide Memoire
  • Introduction
  • Core Technical Skills
    • Core Skills
      • Linux
        • Getting to Know Linux
          • Using the Shell
            • Shells, Terminals, and Virtual Consoles
            • Choose your Shell
            • Shell Commands
              • Non-PATH Commands
              • Command History
                • Command Line Editing
                  • Keystrokes for Navigating Command Lines
                  • Keystrokes for Editing Command Lines
                  • Keystrokes for Cutting and Pasting Text from within Command Lines
                • Command Line Recall
                  • Keystrokes for Command Line Recall
              • Connecting and Expanding Commands
                • Piping Between Commands
                • Sequential Commands
                • Expanding Commands
            • Shell Variables
              • Common Shell Variables
            • Aliases
            • Create your Own Shell Environment
              • Modification Ideas
          • Navigating the Linux File System (LFS)
            • Filesystem Commands
            • Listing Files and Directories
            • File Permissions and Ownership
              • Modifying Permissions with chmod
              • Modifying Default Permissions with umask
              • Change File Ownership with chown
            • Copying, Moving, and Removing Files
            • Finding Files
              • locate
              • find
              • grep
            • Downloading Files
              • axel
              • wget
              • curl
                • User-Agent: Googlebot
          • Working with Text Files
            • Using vim and vi to Edit Text Files
              • Starting with vi
              • Adding Text
              • Moving Around in the Text
            • Text Manipulation
        • System Administration
          • Installing Linux
            • Installing from Live Media
            • Installing in the Enterprise
            • Partitioning Hard Disks
              • Tips for Creating Partitions
          • Account Administration
            • The root Account
              • Becoming root with su
              • sudo
                • The /etc/sudoers File
                • Granting sudo privileges
                  • visudo Guidance
                • Useful sudo Hints
            • Other Administrative Accounts
            • Standard User Accounts
              • Risks of userdel: Orphaned Files
          • Graphical Remote Administration
            • Cockpit
              • Installation Guide
            • Remote Desktop Protocol with xrdp
              • Installation and Configuration
            • Remote Desktop with vnc
              • Installation and Configuration
              • Running VNC as a System Service
          • Managing Running Processes
            • Listing Processes
              • ps
              • top
              • htop
            • Backgrounding and Foregrounding
              • Starting a Background Process
              • Using Foreground and Background Commands
            • Killing and Recining Processes
              • kill and killall
          • Managing Software
            • Managing Software from the Desktop
            • Going Beyond the Limitations of Software Center
              • Debian Packages
                • Advanced Package Tool (apt)
                • Repositories
                • dpkg
        • Shell Scripting
          • Variables
            • Command Substitution
            • Arguments
          • Reading User Input
          • if, else, and elif
          • BOOLEAN Logic
          • Loops
            • for Loops
            • while Loops
          • Functions
          • Local Vs Global Variables
          • Summary
        • Securing Linux
      • Windows
        • Security Hardening
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  1. Core Technical Skills
  2. Core Skills
  3. Linux
  4. System Administration
  5. Managing Running Processes

Backgrounding and Foregrounding

If you are using Linux over a network or from a dumb terminal (a monitor that allows only text input with no GUI support), your shell may be all that you have. You may be used to a graphical environment in which you have lots of programs active at the same time so that you can switch among them as needed. This shell thing can seem pretty limited.

Although the bash shell doesn’t include a GUI for running many programs at once, it does let you move active programs between the background and foreground. In this way, you can have lots of stuff running and selectively choose the one you want to deal with at the moment.

You can place an active program in the background in several ways:

  • Add an ampersand (&) to the end of a command line when you first run the command

  • You can also use the at (@) command to run commands in such a way that they are not connected to the shell

  • To stop a running command and put it in the background, press Ctrl + Z

  • After the command is stopped, you can either bring it back into the foreground with the fg command, or start it running in the background with the bg command

Keep in mind that any command running in the background might spew output during commands that you run subsequently from that shell (try a ping command, you'll see what I mean). For example, if output appears from a command running in the background during a vi session, simply press Ctrl + L to redraw the screen to get rid of the output - you can always try 2> /dev/null as an alternative...

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Last updated 3 years ago

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