Linux / UNIX: Kill User Session

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You can kill a user session in Linux or UNIX by using the pkill command. pkill is a command-line utility that sends signals to processes based on the process name or process ID.

To kill a user session, you need to find the process ID of the user’s shell and then use pkill to send the signal to that process. Here’s an example:

  1. Find the process ID of the user’s shell by using the ps command and filtering the output based on the username:
ps -u username

Replace “username” with the actual username of the user whose session you want to kill.

  1. Locate the shell process for the user. It should be listed as /bin/bash or /bin/sh.
  2. Kill the process by using the following command, replacing “PID” with the actual process ID of the user’s shell:
pkill -9 PID

The -9 option is used to send the SIGKILL signal, which terminates the process immediately without giving it a chance to clean up.

Note: Killing a user session should only be done as a last resort, and only with the consent of the user.

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