Command hub

Services & Processes commands

Map Task Manager, Services.msc, Event Viewer and sc.exe workflows to systemd, journalctl, ps, htop and kill.

DiagnosticsLogsMonitoringPowerPowerShell ProcessProcessesSchedulingServices

Distro notes

Debian/Ubuntu vs Fedora vs Arch

Services & Processes

Debian/Ubuntu apt systemctl status SERVICE && journalctl -u SERVICE

systemd is standard on supported Debian/Ubuntu releases.

Fedora dnf systemctl status SERVICE && journalctl -u SERVICE

Fedora is strongly systemd-oriented; commands are usually identical.

Arch pacman systemctl status SERVICE && journalctl -u SERVICE

Arch uses systemd by default; services appear only after packages are installed.

Guides

All Services & Processes command guides

50 commands

handle.exelsof file Diagnostics Show process using file Lists processes with an open handle to a file. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu lsof file Fedora lsof file Arch lsof file Open full guide → listdllspmap PID Diagnostics Show process memory mappings Shows mapped libraries and memory regions for a process. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu pmap PID Fedora pmap PID Arch pmap PID Open full guide → procdumpcoredumpctl dump PID Diagnostics Dump process core Retrieves a coredump for debugging where coredumpd is active. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu coredumpctl dump PID Fedora coredumpctl dump PID Arch coredumpctl dump PID Open full guide → Event Viewer current bootjournalctl -b Logs Show current boot logs Prints journal entries for the current boot. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu journalctl -b Fedora journalctl -b Arch journalctl -b Open full guide → Event Viewer follow logjournalctl -f Logs Follow system logs Streams new journal entries live. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu journalctl -f Fedora journalctl -f Arch journalctl -f Open full guide → Event Viewer service logjournalctl -u SERVICE -f Logs Follow service logs Streams logs for a specific systemd service. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu journalctl -u SERVICE -f Fedora journalctl -u SERVICE -f Arch journalctl -u SERVICE -f Open full guide → system event log filterjournalctl -p warning..alert Logs Show warning and error logs Filters system logs by priority. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu journalctl -p warning..alert Fedora journalctl -p warning..alert Arch journalctl -p warning..alert Open full guide → Get-Countervmstat 1 Monitoring Show live system counters Prints live CPU, memory and IO counters. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu vmstat 1 Fedora vmstat 1 Arch vmstat 1 Open full guide → resmonbtop Monitoring Interactive resource monitor Opens an interactive process and resource monitor. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu btop Fedora btop Arch btop Open full guide → shutdown /asudo shutdown -c Power Cancel shutdown Cancels a pending shutdown request. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu sudo shutdown -c Fedora sudo shutdown -c Arch sudo shutdown -c Open full guide → shutdown /r /t 0sudo reboot Power Restart computer Reboots the system immediately. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu sudo reboot Fedora sudo reboot Arch sudo reboot Open full guide → shutdown /s /t 0sudo poweroff Power Shut down computer Powers off the system immediately. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu sudo poweroff Fedora sudo poweroff Arch sudo poweroff Open full guide → PowerShell Get-Process -Idps -p PID -f PowerShell Process Show process by PID Shows details for one process ID. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu ps -p PID -f Fedora ps -p PID -f Arch ps -p PID -f Open full guide → PowerShell Wait-Processtail --pid=PID -f /dev/null PowerShell Process Wait for process exit Blocks until a process exits. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu tail --pid=PID -f /dev/null Fedora tail --pid=PID -f /dev/null Arch tail --pid=PID -f /dev/null Open full guide → openfileslsof Processes List open files and which process uses them Shows which files, sockets, and devices are currently open and by which processes. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu lsof Fedora lsof Arch lsof Open full guide → start /affinitytaskset -c 0,1 command Processes Run process on CPU cores Sets CPU affinity for a command. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu taskset -c 0,1 command Fedora taskset -c 0,1 command Arch taskset -c 0,1 command Open full guide → start /bcommand & Processes Run a command in the background Starts a command without blocking the shell from accepting additional input. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu command & Fedora command & Arch command & Open full guide → start /realtimesudo chrt -f 99 command Processes Run with real-time priority Starts a command with real-time scheduler priority. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu sudo chrt -f 99 command Fedora sudo chrt -f 99 command Arch sudo chrt -f 99 command Open full guide → start /waitwait PID Processes Wait for background jobs Pauses a shell script until one or more background processes finish. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu wait PID Fedora wait PID Arch wait PID Open full guide → start commandcommand & Processes Start background process Runs a command in the background. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu command & Fedora command & Arch command & Open full guide → taskkillkill / killall Processes Stop/terminate a process Ends a running process by its process ID (PID) or name. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu kill / killall Fedora kill / killall Arch kill / killall Open full guide → taskkill /f /impkill -9 PROCESS Processes Force-kill process by name Terminates matching processes with SIGKILL. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu pkill -9 PROCESS Fedora pkill -9 PROCESS Arch pkill -9 PROCESS Open full guide → taskkill /pid /tpkill -TERM -P PID Processes Kill child processes Signals child processes under a parent PID. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu pkill -TERM -P PID Fedora pkill -TERM -P PID Arch pkill -TERM -P PID Open full guide → tasklistps aux Processes List running processes Shows all currently running processes, like the Processes tab in Task Manager. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu ps aux Fedora ps aux Arch ps aux Open full guide → tasklist /fi imagenamepgrep -a PROCESS Processes Filter process list Finds running processes matching a name. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu pgrep -a PROCESS Fedora pgrep -a PROCESS Arch pgrep -a PROCESS Open full guide → tasklist /svcps -eo pid,comm,args Processes List processes and services Shows processes with command names and arguments. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu ps -eo pid,comm,args Fedora ps -eo pid,comm,args Arch ps -eo pid,comm,args Open full guide → tasklist /vps auxww Processes Verbose process list Shows detailed process information without truncating commands. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu ps auxww Fedora ps auxww Arch ps auxww Open full guide → taskmgr (Task Manager)htop / btop Processes Interactive process and resource monitor Opens a real-time interactive view of CPU, memory, disk, and network usage with process management. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu htop / btop Fedora htop / btop Arch htop / btop Open full guide → timeout /tsleep 5 Processes Pause a script Waits for a specified amount of time before continuing. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu sleep 5 Fedora sleep 5 Arch sleep 5 Open full guide → wmic process call createnohup command >/tmp/command.log 2>&1 & Processes Start detached process Starts a process that survives terminal logout. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu nohup command >/tmp/command.log 2>&1 & Fedora nohup command >/tmp/command.log 2>&1 & Arch nohup command >/tmp/command.log 2>&1 & Open full guide → wmic process get commandlineps -p PID -o args= Processes Show process command line Displays the full command used to start a process. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu ps -p PID -o args= Fedora ps -p PID -o args= Arch ps -p PID -o args= Open full guide → wmic process get processidps -eo pid,comm,args Processes List process IDs and commands Displays process IDs together with executable names and complete command lines. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu ps -eo pid,comm,args Fedora ps -eo pid,comm,args Arch ps -eo pid,comm,args Open full guide → schtasks /createsystemd-run --on-calendar="*-*-* 02:00" command Scheduling Create scheduled task Creates a transient scheduled systemd job. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu systemd-run --on-calendar="*-*-* 02:00" command Fedora systemd-run --on-calendar="*-*-* 02:00" command Arch systemd-run --on-calendar="*-*-* 02:00" command Open full guide → schtasks /deletesystemctl disable --now TIMER.timer Scheduling Disable scheduled task Stops and disables a timer unit. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu systemctl disable --now TIMER.timer Fedora systemctl disable --now TIMER.timer Arch systemctl disable --now TIMER.timer Open full guide → schtasks /querysystemctl list-timers --all Scheduling List scheduled tasks Lists systemd timers and their next run times. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu systemctl list-timers --all Fedora systemctl list-timers --all Arch systemctl list-timers --all Open full guide → eventvwr / Event Viewerjournalctl Services View system logs Reads logs from the systemd journal — the Linux equivalent of Windows Event Viewer. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu journalctl Fedora journalctl Arch journalctl Open full guide → net start servicesudo systemctl start SERVICE Services Start named service Starts a system service. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu sudo systemctl start SERVICE Fedora sudo systemctl start SERVICE Arch sudo systemctl start SERVICE Open full guide → net stop servicesudo systemctl stop SERVICE Services Stop named service Stops a system service. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu sudo systemctl stop SERVICE Fedora sudo systemctl stop SERVICE Arch sudo systemctl stop SERVICE Open full guide → sc configsudo systemctl edit SERVICE Services Edit service override Creates or edits a systemd override file. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu sudo systemctl edit SERVICE Fedora sudo systemctl edit SERVICE Arch sudo systemctl edit SERVICE Open full guide → sc create / sc deletesystemd unit files in /etc/systemd/system/ Services Create a custom systemd service Defines a new system service by creating a unit file, then enables and starts it. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu systemd unit files in /etc/systemd/system/ Fedora systemd unit files in /etc/systemd/system/ Arch systemd unit files in /etc/systemd/system/ Open full guide → sc failuresudo systemctl edit SERVICE Services Configure service restart policy Sets Restart= behavior in a systemd override. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu sudo systemctl edit SERVICE Fedora sudo systemctl edit SERVICE Arch sudo systemctl edit SERVICE Open full guide → sc qcsystemctl cat SERVICE Services Show service configuration Prints a systemd unit file and drop-ins. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu systemctl cat SERVICE Fedora systemctl cat SERVICE Arch systemctl cat SERVICE Open full guide → sc querysystemctl list-units Services List all services and their status Shows all installed services and whether they are running, stopped, or failed. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu systemctl list-units Fedora systemctl list-units Arch systemctl list-units Open full guide → sc query state= allsystemctl list-units --type=service --all Services List all services Lists loaded active and inactive services. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu systemctl list-units --type=service --all Fedora systemctl list-units --type=service --all Arch systemctl list-units --type=service --all Open full guide → sc restart equivalentsudo systemctl restart SERVICE Services Restart service Restarts a systemd service. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu sudo systemctl restart SERVICE Fedora sudo systemctl restart SERVICE Arch sudo systemctl restart SERVICE Open full guide → sc startsudo systemctl start SERVICE Services Start service Starts a systemd service. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu sudo systemctl start SERVICE Fedora sudo systemctl start SERVICE Arch sudo systemctl start SERVICE Open full guide → sc stopsudo systemctl stop SERVICE Services Stop service Stops a systemd service. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu sudo systemctl stop SERVICE Fedora sudo systemctl stop SERVICE Arch sudo systemctl stop SERVICE Open full guide → services.msc / net startsystemctl Services Manage system services Starts, stops, restarts, and checks the status of background services (like Windows Services). Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu systemctl Fedora systemctl Arch systemctl Open full guide → services.msc startup type disabledsudo systemctl disable --now SERVICE Services Disable startup service Stops a service now and prevents future autostart. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu sudo systemctl disable --now SERVICE Fedora sudo systemctl disable --now SERVICE Arch sudo systemctl disable --now SERVICE Open full guide → wmic startup / msconfig Startupsystemctl list-unit-files --state=enabled Services List programs set to run at startup Shows all services and programs configured to start automatically when the system boots. Distro equivalents Debian/Ubuntu systemctl list-unit-files --state=enabled Fedora systemctl list-unit-files --state=enabled Arch systemctl list-unit-files --state=enabled Open full guide →