Forced shutdown
An immediate stop where a process is terminated without cooperating, typically via SIGKILL or an equivalent hard stop.
Definition
A forced shutdown is when a process is terminated without cooperating. The OS stops it immediately.
This is commonly done with SIGKILL (or an equivalent mechanism) and cannot be handled by the process.
Why forced shutdowns happen
Forced shutdown is used when:
- the process is hung or unresponsive
- a graceful shutdown timed out
- the system needs resources back immediately
Forced shutdown is sometimes necessary, but it increases the chance of interrupted work and partial state.