What does SIGCONT do?

SIGCONT is a signal in Unix-like operating systems that resumes a process that has been stopped.

How SIGCONT Works

When a process is stopped, it is in a suspended state and does not execute any instructions. Sending a SIGCONT signal to a stopped process tells the operating system to resume its execution.

Practical Uses of SIGCONT

• Debugging: Developers use SIGCONT to pause a program at a specific point, examine the program's state, and then resume execution.
• Job Control: The shell uses SIGCONT to allow users to suspend and resume background processes.
• Resource Management: SIGCONT can be used to temporarily pause processes that are consuming excessive resources, allowing other processes to run.

Examples

• Using kill command: kill -SIGCONT <process_id>
• Using pgrep command: kill -SIGCONT$(pgrep -f "program_name")`

Conclusion

SIGCONT is a crucial signal for managing processes in Unix-like systems, allowing for controlled pausing and resuming of program execution.