Taskman and process control
Applies to: Rubian 4.0.2; Taskman desktop requires Tk and a display
Updated
Taskman brings process and system inspection into a desktop interface, with terminal commands for the same operating session. Use it to identify active work, inspect host memory use and select the appropriate control for a process or job.
Open Taskman#
taskman
tm is an alias. The desktop interface requires an available Tk installation and a usable display. If those requirements are absent, the command reports that the interface could not be started and points to terminal inspection commands. Starting the interface returns its process ID; calling it while already running returns the existing ID.
taskman_running? checks whether the Taskman interface is running. tm_stop stops that interface. It does not stop the workloads you were inspecting.
Inspect from the terminal#
tm_list
tm_top(10)
tm_kernel
| Command | Result and use |
|---|---|
tm_list(filter = nil) |
Displays the process/job listing and connected-system view. The optional filter narrows the listing. |
tm_top(n = 15) |
On a compatible Linux host, displays the largest processes by resident memory and returns rows containing RSS in KiB, host PID, name and command. |
tm_kernel |
Displays a connected-system snapshot. |
ps(filter = nil, quiet: false) |
Returns a hash with :kernel, :jobs and :filter, in addition to normal display. |
process_list(filter = nil) |
Displays and returns the connected process view and Rubian job records. |
Resident memory is one observation about a host process. A large value does not by itself identify a failed or unnecessary workload. Compare the process's purpose and recent activity before deciding to stop it.
Choose the correct identifier#
A Rubian job ID belongs to work started with bg. Use bg(id), job_result(id) and kill_job(id) from the background-job reference.
A host PID identifies a host process. tm_kill(pid, hard: false) requests termination of that process and returns a Boolean result. hard: true requests forced termination. The command refuses the current Rubian process and PID values at or below 1. A successful request still requires follow-up inspection of the process.
An agent name selects a configured workspace. Use the agent lifecycle controls, which account for its service and supervision state.
Do not substitute one identifier for another. Stopping a supervised host process directly can cause its supervisor to start it again; use the responsible service control when the intention is to stop the service.
Other process views#
top and htop use host tools where available. vmstat(interval = nil, count = nil) and iostat(interval = nil, count = nil) also depend on host utilities. Their output describes the host they run on, which may differ from the connected system represented by Rubian's own process view.
For memory summaries, storage observations and logs, continue to System and storage inspection.