To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
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From: Bill Davidsen <davidsen@tmr.com>
Newsgroups: mail.linux-kernel
Subject: Re: is killing zombies possible w/o a reboot?
Date: Wed, 03 Nov 2004 17:58:56 -0500
Organization: TMR Associates, Inc
Message-ID: <418962B0.3080806@tmr.com>
References: <yw1xis8nhtst.fsf@ford.inprovide.com><yw1xis8nhtst.fsf@ford.inprovide.com> <20041103152531.GA22610@DervishD>
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       linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
To: DervishD <lkml@dervishd.net>
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DervishD wrote:
>     Hi all :)
> 
>  * M?ns Rullg?rd <mru@inprovide.com> dixit:
> 
>>>>I'd tried to kill the zombie earlier but couldn't.
>>>>Isn't there some way to clean up a &^$#^#@)_ zombie?
>>>
>>>Kill the parent, is the only (portable) way.
>>
>>Perhaps not as portable, but another possible, though slightly
>>complicated, way is to ptrace the parent and force it to wait().
> 
> 
>     Or write a little program that just 'wait()'s for the specified
> PID's. That is perfectly portable IMHO. But I must admit that the
> preferred way should be killing the parent. 'init' will reap the
> children after that.

You can't wait() for the process, you have to use waitfor(), and the 
last time I tried that it didn't work, although I don't remember the 
symptom beyond that.

-- 
    -bill davidsen (davidsen@tmr.com)
"The secret to procrastination is to put things off until the
  last possible moment - but no longer"  -me
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