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procps-ng 4.0.4 (binaries only)

Overview

The procps-full package provides the complete versions of procps-ng utilities for process monitoring and system information. All binaries are installed with the suffix "full" to avoid conflicts with BusyBox versions.

This package is useful when you need the full feature set of procps utilities that may not be available in BusyBox implementations.

All commands are installed with the suffix full (e.g., psfull, topfull) to avoid conflicts with BusyBox versions.

Features

  • 18 utilities for process and system monitoring
  • All binaries compiled statically for minimal dependencies
  • Suffix "full" added to each command to prevent conflicts with BusyBox
  • Can be externalized to USB storage to save flash memory
  • Total package size: ~1.3 MB (all binaries)

Binaries Included

Process Information

  • psfull (203 KB) - Report snapshot of current processes
  • Full featured ps command with all options
  • Supports BSD and UNIX syntax

  • Example: psfull aux, psfull -ef

  • topfull (213 KB) - Display Linux processes in real-time

  • Interactive process viewer
  • CPU and memory usage monitoring

  • Process sorting and filtering

  • htop alternative - More feature-rich than busybox top

Memory and System Information

  • freefull (37 KB) - Display memory usage
  • Shows total, used, free, shared, buffer, and cache memory

  • Example: freefull -h (human-readable)

  • uptimefull (19 KB) - System uptime and load average

  • Shows how long the system has been running

  • Displays load averages

  • vmstatfull (97 KB) - Virtual memory statistics

  • Report virtual memory, processes, CPU activity

  • Example: vmstatfull 1 (update every second)

  • wfull (82 KB) - Show who is logged on

  • Display logged-in users and their activity
  • Shows login time and current command

Process Management

  • pgrepfull (88 KB) - Lookup processes by name
  • Find processes based on name and attributes

  • Example: pgrepfull sshd

  • pkillfull (88 KB) - Signal processes by name

  • Send signals to processes by name

  • Example: pkillfull -9 process_name

  • pidoffull (75 KB) - Find process ID of running program

  • Alternative to pidof command

  • Example: pidoffull sshd

  • killfull (17 KB) - Terminate processes by PID

  • Send signals to processes by PID

  • Example: killfull -9 1234

  • skillfull (83 KB) - Send signal or report process status

  • Advanced process signaling utility

  • snicefull (83 KB) - Renice running processes

  • Change process priority
  • Example: snicefull +10 1234

Process Inspection

  • pmapfull (88 KB) - Report memory map of a process
  • Display detailed memory map of a process

  • Example: pmapfull 1234

  • pwdxfull (6.8 KB) - Report current working directory

  • Display current directory of a process
  • Example: pwdxfull 1234

System Utilities

  • sysctlfull (20 KB) - Configure kernel parameters at runtime
  • Read and write kernel parameters

  • Example: sysctlfull -a (show all)

  • slabtopfull (30 KB) - Display kernel slab cache information

  • Real-time kernel slab cache monitoring

  • Useful for kernel debugging

  • tloadfull (19 KB) - Graphical load average display

  • ASCII graph of system load average

  • watchfull (26 KB) - Execute program periodically

  • Run a command repeatedly at intervals
  • Example: watchfull -n 1 'psfull aux'

Installation

  1. Enable the package in menuconfig: make menuconfig Navigate to: Packages > Process utilities > procps-ng (full binaries)

  2. Select individual binaries you want to include (or select all)

  3. Compile the firmware: make

Usage Examples

Basic Process Monitoring

# Show all processes with full details
psfull aux

# Show process tree
psfull -ejH

# Monitor processes in real-time
topfull

# Find process by name
pgrepfull nginx

# Kill process by name
pkillfull nginx

Memory and System Info

# Display memory usage in human-readable format
freefull -h

# Show system uptime
uptimefull

# Monitor virtual memory statistics every second
vmstatfull 1

# Show who is logged in
wfull

Advanced Process Analysis

# Show memory map of a process
pmapfull $(pidoffull sshd)

# Show current directory of a process
pwdxfull 1234

# Watch process list updates
watchfull -n 2 'psfull aux | head -20'

# Display kernel slab cache
slabtopfull

System Configuration

# Show all kernel parameters
sysctlfull -a

# Set a kernel parameter
sysctlfull -w net.ipv4.ip_forward=1

# Read a specific parameter
sysctlfull net.ipv4.ip_forward

Differences from BusyBox

The procps-full versions provide many more options and features compared to BusyBox:

Feature BusyBox procps-full
ps options Limited Full BSD/UNIX syntax
top features Basic Advanced sorting, filtering
Memory details Basic Detailed breakdown
Process tree Limited Full hierarchy
Signal handling Basic All signals supported
Kernel parameters - Full sysctl support

Externalization

To save flash memory, you can externalize these binaries to USB storage:

  1. Enable externalization in menuconfig: Advanced options > External > Freetz-NG packages

  2. Select: procps-ng (full binaries) - externalization

  3. The binaries will be stored on USB and symlinked to /usr/bin/

Size Considerations

Individual binary sizes (stripped): - Minimal set (ps, top, free): ~457 KB - Common utilities (add vmstat, w, pgrep, pkill): ~846 KB
- All binaries: ~1.3 MB

Choose only the binaries you need to minimize flash usage.

Technical Details

Build Configuration

  • Compiled with --enable-static --disable-shared
  • NLS (internationalization) disabled for smaller size
  • Statically linked to avoid runtime dependencies
  • Stripped to remove debug symbols

Known Limitations

  • pidwait is not included (requires kernel >= 5.3 with pidfd_open syscall)
  • Static linking increases binary sizes compared to shared libraries
  • Some features may not work on older kernels

Troubleshooting

Command not found

Make sure the binary is selected in menuconfig and the firmware was rebuilt.

Permission denied

Ensure binaries have execute permissions:

chmod +x /usr/bin/*full

Externalization not working

Check that USB storage is properly mounted and external directory is configured.

See Also

  • htop - Interactive process viewer (alternative to topfull)
  • lsof - List open files
  • strace - Trace system calls

Version History

  • 4.0.4 (Current)
  • Initial Freetz-NG integration
  • 18 binaries with "full" suffix
  • Externalization support

Contributing

Report issues or improvements to the Freetz-NG repository.

License

procps-ng is licensed under GPL-2.0 and LGPL-2.1. See the official repository for details.