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A Python module to customize the process title
==============================================
.. image:: https://github.com/dvarrazzo/py-setproctitle/workflows/Tests/badge.svg
:target: https://github.com/dvarrazzo/py-setproctitle/actions?query=workflow%3ATests
:alt: Tests
:author: Daniele Varrazzo
The ``setproctitle`` module allows a process to change its title (as displayed
by system tools such as ``ps``, ``top`` or MacOS Activity Monitor).
Changing the title is mostly useful in multi-process systems, for example
when a master process is forked: changing the children's title allows to
identify the task each process is busy with. The technique is used by
PostgreSQL_ and the `OpenSSH Server`_ for example.
The procedure is hardly portable across different systems. PostgreSQL provides
a good `multi-platform implementation`__: this package was born as a wrapper
around PostgreSQL code.
- `Homepage <https://github.com/dvarrazzo/py-setproctitle>`__
- `Download <http://pypi.python.org/pypi/setproctitle/>`__
- `Bug tracker <https://github.com/dvarrazzo/py-setproctitle/issues>`__
.. _PostgreSQL: http://www.postgresql.org
.. _OpenSSH Server: http://www.openssh.com/
.. __: http://doxygen.postgresql.org/ps__status_8c_source.html
Installation
------------
``setproctitle`` is a C extension: in order to build it you will need a C
compiler and the Python development support (the ``python-dev`` or
``python3-dev`` package in most Linux distributions). No further external
dependencies are required.
You can use ``pip`` to install the module::
pip install setproctitle
You can use ``pip -t`` or ``virtualenv`` for local installations, ``sudo pip``
for a system-wide one... the usual stuff. Read pip_ or virtualenv_ docs for
all the details.
.. _pip: https://pip.readthedocs.org/
.. _virtualenv: https://virtualenv.readthedocs.org/
Usage
-----
.. note::
You should import and use the module (even just calling ``getproctitle()``)
pretty early in your program lifetime: code writing env vars `may
interfere`__ with the module initialisation.
.. __: https://github.com/dvarrazzo/py-setproctitle/issues/42
The ``setproctitle`` module exports the following functions:
``setproctitle(title)``
Set *title* as the title for the current process.
``getproctitle()``
Return the current process title.
The process title is usually visible in files such as ``/proc/PID/cmdline``,
``/proc/PID/status``, ``/proc/PID/comm``, depending on the operating system
and kernel version. These information are used by user-space tools such as
``ps`` and ``top``.
``setthreadtitle(title)``
Set *title* as the title for the current thread.
``getthreadtitle()``
Get the current thread title.
The thread title is exposed by some operating systems as the file
``/proc/PID/task/TID/comm``, which is used by certain tools such as ``htop``.
Environment variables
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few environment variables can be used to customize the module behavior:
``SPT_NOENV``
Avoid clobbering ``/proc/PID/environ``.
On many platforms, setting the process title will clobber the
``environ`` memory area. ``os.environ`` will work as expected from within
the Python process, but the content of the file ``/proc/PID/environ`` will
be overwritten. If you require this file not to be broken you can set the
``SPT_NOENV`` environment variable to any non-empty value: in this case
the maximum length for the title will be limited to the length of the
command line.
``SPT_DEBUG``
Print debug information on ``stderr``.
If the module doesn't work as expected you can set this variable to a
non-empty value to generate information useful for debugging. Note that
the most useful information is printed when the module is imported, not
when the functions are called.
Module status
-------------
The module can be currently compiled and effectively used on the following
platforms:
- GNU/Linux
- BSD
- MacOS X
- Windows
Note that on Windows there is no way to change the process string:
what the module does is to create a *Named Object* whose value can be read
using a tool such as `Process Explorer`_ (contribution of a more useful tool
to be used together with ``setproctitle`` would be well accepted).
The module can probably work on HP-UX, but I haven't found any to test with.
It is unlikely that it can work on Solaris instead.
.. _Process Explorer: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx
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