While investigating a performance slowdown, you run ps ax on a production server. One line in the output lists the STAT value R+ for a database process. What does this code tell you about the current state of that process?
It is blocked in uninterruptible sleep, waiting for an I/O operation to finish and cannot currently be killed.
It has been paused by job-control (such as SIGSTOP) and will resume only after receiving SIGCONT.
It has completed execution but remains in the process table until the parent collects its exit status.
It is either running on a CPU or waiting in the run queue and is the foreground job on its terminal.
In ps output, the leading letter reports the kernel-level state and any following characters add detail. The code "R" means the task is running or runnable (on the run queue). The trailing "+" flag indicates that the task belongs to the foreground process group of its controlling terminal. Therefore, a process marked "R+" is either actively executing on a CPU or ready to run as soon as it is scheduled, and it is also the foreground job on its tty.
The other options describe different STAT codes:
"Z" marks a zombie (terminated, awaiting reaping).
"T" marks a stopped task (paused by job-control or SIGSTOP/SIGTSTP).
"D" marks uninterruptible sleep (usually waiting for I/O).
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What does the `ps` command do in Linux?
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What does the STAT field in `ps` output represent?
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What is the significance of the `+` flag in STAT codes?
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