How to use the command 'jobs' (with examples)

The ‘jobs’ command is used to display the status of jobs in the current session. It provides information about the running, stopped and terminated jobs. This command is particularly useful when working in a terminal environment, where multiple jobs are running simultaneously.

Use case 1: Show status of all jobs

Code:

jobs

Motivation: In a session with multiple jobs running, it can be useful to quickly check the status of all jobs. This allows the user to see which jobs are running, stopped or terminated, and get a general overview of the current session.

Explanation: This use case of the ‘jobs’ command does not require any argument. It simply displays the status of all jobs in the current session.

Example output:

[1] Running    command1
[2]-  Stopped    command2
[3]+  Done       command3

In this example output, the first job is currently running, the second job is stopped and the third job has completed.

Use case 2: Show status of a particular job

Code:

jobs %job_id

Motivation: When a session has multiple jobs running, it can be helpful to check the status of a specific job. This allows the user to gather information about a specific job without scrolling through the entire list of jobs in the session.

Explanation: In this use case, the job_id is the ID of the particular job for which the status needs to be displayed. The job_id is obtained from the output of the ‘jobs’ command.

Example output:

[2]-  Stopped    command2

In this example output, the status of job with ID 2 is shown, indicating that it is currently stopped.

Use case 3: Show status and process IDs of all jobs

Code:

jobs -l

Motivation: When managing multiple jobs, it can be necessary to have more detailed information about them, including the process IDs (PIDs). This can be useful for further investigation, troubleshooting, or interacting with the jobs using other commands.

Explanation: This use case of the ‘jobs’ command includes the ‘-l’ option, which provides the status and process IDs of all jobs in the current session.

Example output:

[1] 1234 Running    command1
[2]- 5678 Stopped    command2
[3]+ 9101 Done       command3

In this example output, the first job is running with a process ID of 1234, the second job is stopped with a process ID of 5678, and the third job has completed with a process ID of 9101.

Use case 4: Show process IDs of all jobs

Code:

jobs -p

Motivation: Sometimes, it is only necessary to obtain the process IDs of the jobs running in the session, without any other status information. This can be useful when needing to use the process IDs in other commands or processes.

Explanation: This use case of the ‘jobs’ command includes the ‘-p’ option, which displays only the process IDs of all jobs in the current session.

Example output:

1234
5678
9101

In this example output, the process IDs of the jobs running in the session are displayed.