Free On-line Dictionary of Computing:
zombie process
(Or "defunct process") A
Unix
process
that has terminated (either because it has been killed by a
signal
or because it has called exit()) and whose
parent process
has not yet received notification of its termination
by executing (some form of) the wait()
system call
.
A zombie process exists solely as a
process table
entry and
consumes no other resources. This entry is retained to hold
the child's exit status until the parent process wants to
retrieve it. The parent can also be notified asynchronously
via a signal of the child's termination.
Zombie processes can be seen in "ps" listings occasionally
(with a status "Z" in some versions).
Compare
orphan process
.
(1997-10-08)
