Process Management
nice
Run a command with a modified scheduling priority (niceness).
Synopsis
syntax
nice [OPTION]... [COMMAND]...
Examples
Run compression at lower priority
nice -n 10 tar -czf backup.tar.gz /data
Run find at lowest priority
nice -n 19 find / -name '*.log'
Run at higher priority (requires root)
nice -n -5 ./critical-task
Common options
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
| -n | Adjustment value (-20 to 19, default 10) |
About nice
The `nice` command run a command with a modified scheduling priority (niceness). Process management commands let you monitor, control, and schedule running processes.
Linux is a multitasking operating system, and understanding how to list processes, send signals, adjust priorities, and manage background jobs is vital for system administration and debugging performance issues. The command accepts 1 commonly used flag shown above, though the full set of options is available in the man page (`man nice`).
The 3 examples on this page cover typical real-world usage patterns that you can copy and adapt for your own workflows.
Related commands
More Process Management Commands
Other commands in the Process Management category