Apr 4 2023

Kill a Stray Process on Linux Using `lsof`

Sometimes local servers get naughty and fail to exit with a signal. They end up occupying a port, and that isn't very pleasant. Here's how to kill them using lsof.

#linux
· 1-minute read

Last updated: Tuesday, April 4th, 2023

Note
This post was originally published on anca.io. It’s now part of anca.wtf — a space I’m reclaiming and reshaping. Some ideas may age well. Others are here to mark the path.
  1. Find out what process is running on the port:
    Terminal window
    lsof -i:<port>
  2. Copy the process number from the PID column.
  3. Kill the process:
    Terminal window
    kill -9 <process-number>
  4. Confirm that the process has closed by re-running the command at step 1.
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