ps aux

ps is a command that prints out the current processes. It accepts three different traditions of options, UNIX options, BSD options, and GNU long options, namely. When we invoke the command like ps aux, we are giving the options in the BSD style.

Let's dive straight into the point and see what ps aux does.

• u: Display the result in a human-friendly manner c.f. s makes the output in the signal format.
• ax: This causes the ps to list all the processes.
  • a: Lift the BSD style "only yourself" restriction.
  • x: Lift the BSD style "must have a tty" restriction.

ps(1) - Linux manual page

Linux manual page