Viewing very large process names in UNIX

Technote (FAQ)
Problem
"ps-ef" work great for looking at most process names, but when you need to look at really long process names, you need to use a holdover from the Berkeley UNIX.
Solution
The normal method of looking up PID and CMD/process names in UNIX OS's is to use the "ps -ef" command usually in association with a "grep". However, when the directory structure is very deep or, like WebSphere java processes, the process arguments are long, this method doesn't work well, since you only see the first tens of characters of the CMD name. For example, here is a WebSphere process when viewed via the standard ps command:


root 7059 1 0 Oct 13 ? 12:52 /usr/java1.1//bin/sparc/native_threads/java -mx128m -classpath /opt/WebSphere/

However, using an older holdover from Berkeley UNIX, there is a solution. Check under the /usr/ucb directory and look for a "ps" command. This command has options that include a "wide window", that would allow one to see the complete CMD name, hence all of the arguements that are being used with a process. An example of using this command to view all processes would be:

%ps -auxww

Here is an example using the /usr/ucb/ps command, using ps -auxww.

root 7059 0.0 9.34968046408 ? S Oct 13 12:52 /usr/java1.1//bin/sparc/native_threads/java -mx128m -classpath /opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/oraclefix01.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/PQ38279.jar:/opt/oracle/jdbc/lib/classes111_01.zip:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/mgiccommon.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/ibmwebas.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/properties:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/servlet.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/webtlsrn.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/lotusxsl.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/ns.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/ejs.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/ujc.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer//lib/odbc/lib/classesibm.zip:/export/home/db2inst1//sqllib/java/db2java.zip:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/repository.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/admin.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/swingall.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/console.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/tasks.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/xml4j.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/x509v1.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/vaprt.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/iioprt.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/iioptools.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/dertrjrt.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/sslight.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/ibmjndi.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/deployTool.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/databeans.jar:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/classes:/usr/java1.1//lib/classes.zip:/opt/WebSphere/AppServer/lib/jsp10.jar com/ibm/ejs/sm/server/AdminServer -bootFile admin.config -nodeRestart

Be sure that you actually use THIS ps, not the default. At the command prompt, use the complete path name if the /usr/ucb/ directory is not in your path:

% /usr/ucb/ps -auxww

I am not sure if such functionality is availble in over UNIX OS's, but this is a very nice feature within Sun's OS's. Hopefully, this tip will prove useful to you at some point down the road.












Document Information

Product categories: Software, Application Servers, Distributed Application & Web Servers, WebSphere Application Server, Servlet Engine/Web Container
Operating system(s): Solaris
Software version: 2.0.3.1, 3.0, 3.5
Software edition: Standard, Advanced
Reference #: 1007097
IBM Group: Software Group
Modified date: 2001-09-10