Updated: 29 September 2026 · Applies to: fkill-cli 9.0 with Node.js 20 or later on Ubuntu, Debian, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux and Fedora
fkill is a small command-line tool that stops processes by PID, by name or by the network port they listen on. Run without arguments, it shows an interactive list you can search and pick from. It is written in JavaScript and installed with npm. We tested fkill-cli 9.0.0 with Node.js 20 on Debian 13.
1. Install Node.js 20 or later
fkill-cli 9 requires Node.js 20 or newer. Check with node -v, and install from your distribution:
apt install nodejs npm # Debian 13 (Node.js 20) dnf module install nodejs:22/common # AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux 9 dnf install nodejs npm # AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux 10 (Node.js 22), Fedora
Ubuntu 24.04 ships Node.js 18, which is too old; install a newer version from nodejs.org, or use one of the alternatives below.
2. Install fkill
npm install --global fkill-cli fkill --version
3. Use it
fkill # interactive list: type to search, Enter to kill fkill 1337 # by process ID fkill nginx # by process name (not case-sensitive) fkill :8080 # the process listening on port 8080 fkill --force node # send SIGKILL instead of a normal stop fkill -t 10 myapp # force-kill if it has not stopped after 10 seconds
In the interactive list, processes with high CPU or memory use are marked, which helps to find a runaway process quickly.
Without Node.js
The standard tools on every server do the same jobs:
pkill -f myapp # by name or command line kill 1337 # by process ID (kill -9 to force) fuser -k 8080/tcp # the process using TCP port 8080 (package psmisc) htop # interactive: select a process and press F9
Stop services with systemctl stop NAME rather than killing their processes; otherwise systemd may simply start them again.
Official documentation: fkill-cli on GitHub.
