From owner-freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Dec 2 12:08:03 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5D42D16A533 for ; Thu, 2 Dec 2004 12:08:03 +0000 (GMT) Received: from farside.isc.org (farside.isc.org [204.152.187.5]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id EBD9A43D1F for ; Thu, 2 Dec 2004 12:08:02 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from Mark_Andrews@isc.org) Received: from drugs.dv.isc.org (localhost [IPv6:::1]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by farside.isc.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 97BD367503 for ; Thu, 2 Dec 2004 12:08:02 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from marka@isc.org) Received: from drugs.dv.isc.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by drugs.dv.isc.org (8.13.1/8.13.1) with ESMTP id iB2C7sT0075380; Thu, 2 Dec 2004 23:07:54 +1100 (EST) (envelope-from marka@drugs.dv.isc.org) Message-Id: <200412021207.iB2C7sT0075380@drugs.dv.isc.org> To: Ivan Voras From: Mark Andrews In-reply-to: Your message of "Thu, 02 Dec 2004 12:54:00 BST." <41AF0258.5000601@fer.hr> Date: Thu, 02 Dec 2004 23:07:54 +1100 Sender: Mark_Andrews@isc.org cc: stable@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Unkillable zombie sshd-s? X-BeenThere: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: Production branch of FreeBSD source code List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 02 Dec 2004 12:08:03 -0000 > I found out today that I have two zombie sshd processes on a busy server > (dozen or so users over ssh, many other services), and I can't kill them. > > sshd 38653 0.0 0.0 0 0 ?? Z Mon08AM 0:00.03 > sshd 75851 0.0 0.0 0 0 ?? Z 7:33PM 0:00.08 > > kill -9 doesn't complain, but doesn't do the job either. > > Is there a way to find out what has happened and why does the situation > occur? (I can't reboot the server for testing) You can't kill them because they are already dead. They are just holding state so that the parent process can know how they died. Once the parent process wait()'s on them (or the parent dies) they will disappear. This is a FAQ that is over 20 years old. Mark -- Mark Andrews, ISC 1 Seymour St., Dundas Valley, NSW 2117, Australia PHONE: +61 2 9871 4742 INTERNET: Mark_Andrews@isc.org