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 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.
It has been paused by job-control (such as SIGSTOP) and will resume only after receiving SIGCONT.
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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