ps aux seems to conveniently list all processes and their status and resource usage (Linux/BSD/MacOS), however I cannot comprehend the meaning of parameter aux using man ps.
What does aux mean?
Alek RichterEnlightened
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ps aux seems to conveniently list all processes and their status and resource usage (Linux/BSD/MacOS), however I cannot comprehend the meaning of parameter aux using man ps.
What does aux mean?
a = show processes for all users
u = display the process’s user/owner
x = also show processes not attached to a terminal
By the way, man ps is a good resource.
Historically, BSD and AT&T developed incompatible versions of ps. The options without a leading dash (as per the question) are the BSD style while those with a leading dash are AT&T Unix style. On top of this, Linux developed a version which supports both styles and then adds to it a third style with options that begin with double dashes.
All (or nearly all) non-embedded Linux distributions use a variant of the procps suite. The above options are as defined in the procps ps man page.
In the comments, you say you are using Apple MacOS (OSX, I presume). The OSX man page for ps is here and it shows support only for AT&T style.