It is possible to modify the execution priority of processes on Linux using the nice and renice commands. These commands are extremely useful in multi-user environments
Imagine a server with many users logged in and each one running something. In this type of environment, it is necessary to give more or less processing slices to the various user programs to maintain a stable and organized environment.
Use:
$ nice [-n prioritization_setting] [command]
The nice command adjusts a process’s available CPU time to
higher or lower priority.
In English the word “nice” means “cool”. If the adjustment of
The priority for a process is a positive number, meaning that it is
being cooler with the other programs decreasing their priority.
If the adjustment is a negative number, it means that the program is
being less cool, increasing your execution priority and leaving less
CPU time for the other programs.
The possible priority adjustment ranges from —20 (highest priority/least cool) to 19 (coolest, least priority).
If no adjustment value is passed, the nice command will adjust
the priority to +10, reducing the process execution time.
$ nice updatedb &
In this example, the updatedb command has lower execution priority.
$ nice —n —10 payroll
In this example the command
Payroll will be executed with higher priority.
Use:
The renice command adjusts the execution priority of processes that are already running. By default, the renice command takes the PID of a particular process as a parameter.
The priority setting is an integer ranging from —20 (highest priority) to +20 (execute anything before this process).
The most common options are:
Example:
# renice -1 987 -u daemon root -p 32
In this example, the process number PID 987, PID 32, and all processes that daemon and root users own will have higher priority.
See how to work with processes in Linux and put processes in the background.
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