Quick Tip

Tame Your Processes: Focused `ps` Output with `awk`

Challenge: The output of the `ps` command can be overwhelmingly verbose, making it difficult to quickly find specific process information like CPU usage, memory, or parent process ID (PPID).

The Solution: Pipe the output of `ps aux` (or `ps -ef`) to `awk` to extract only the columns you need.

ps aux | awk '{print $1, $2, $4, $11}'

Why it works: `awk` allows you to specify fields (columns) to print from its input. In this case, we’re selecting the User, PID, %CPU, and the Command itself, making the output much more digestible.

Pro-Tip: For even more control, use `ps -eo pid,ppid,%cpu,%mem,comm` to select specific output fields directly.

Linux Tips & Tricks | © ngelinux.com | 6/6/2026