Quickly find and inspect the kernel threads running on your system using standard tools and /proc. 05.12.2025 | reading time: 2 min Kernel threads do the heavy lifting in kernel space; he wants to see what is running right now and why the CPU is busy, so we will list them and inspect a few properties with commands you already have. A concrete example you can run Run this to list threads system-wide and show thread IDs and names, then inspect one entry in /proc; ```$ ps -eLo pid,tid,stat,comm PID TID STAT COMMAND 2 2 Ss kthreadd 3 3 R rcu_gp 102 102 S kworker/1:0-events $ cat /proc/2/comm kthreadd ``` This shows thread IDs (TID) and the COMMAND column where kernel threads like "kthreadd" and "kworker/1:0-events" appear. Options that matter in practice Use `-L` to list threads and `-o` to control columns, for example `ps -eLo pid,tid,ppid,stat,comm`; `ps -eLf` gives LWP and NLWP fields for per-process thread counts; `ps -L -p PID` restricts to a specific process; and remember kernel threads often have no `/proc/<pid>/exe` target, so checking `readlink /proc/<pid>/exe` helps distinguish kernel-only tasks. When top and /proc are better For live monitoring press `top -H` to toggle thread view and see per-thread CPU usage, or use `htop` with 'Display threads' enabled for a friendly UI; when debugging, examine `/proc/<pid>/task/` to enumerate a process's threads or inspect `/proc/<pid>/stack` for a kernel stack snapshot of a kernel thread. Other angles and caveats Kernel threads run without a userland binary and may appear with short names or workqueue tags; some distributions show names in brackets in certain tools, and permission to read some /proc entries may require root, so escalate carefully when you need full details. Next steps for mastery Practice these commands on a lab VM, compare `ps` and `top` views, and combine with `perf` or ftrace for deeper kernel diagnostics; keep exploring the boot and process internals to build skills toward certifications and real-world troubleshooting. Join Bits & Bytes Academy First class LINUX exam preparation. processes utilities troubleshooting
