# Process ## Process **Status:**  **type:** `process` **Description:** An operating system process. **Other Attributes:** > :warning: This entity definition contains attributes without a role. > Stable Entities MUST NOT have attributes without a defined role. | Attribute | Type | Description | Examples | [Requirement Level](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/specs/semconv/general/attribute-requirement-level/) | Stability | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | [`process.command`](/docs/registry/attributes/process.md) | string | The command used to launch the process (i.e. the command name). On Linux based systems, can be set to the zeroth string in `proc/[pid]/cmdline`. On Windows, can be set to the first parameter extracted from `GetCommandLineW`. | `cmd/otelcol` | `Conditionally Required` [1] |  | | [`process.command_args`](/docs/registry/attributes/process.md) | string[] | All the command arguments (including the command/executable itself) as received by the process. On Linux-based systems (and some other Unixoid systems supporting procfs), can be set according to the list of null-delimited strings extracted from `proc/[pid]/cmdline`. For libc-based executables, this would be the full argv vector passed to `main`. SHOULD NOT be collected by default unless there is sanitization that excludes sensitive data. | `["cmd/otecol", "--config=config.yaml"]` | `Conditionally Required` [2] |  | | [`process.command_line`](/docs/registry/attributes/process.md) | string | The full command used to launch the process as a single string representing the full command. On Windows, can be set to the result of `GetCommandLineW`. Do not set this if you have to assemble it just for monitoring; use `process.command_args` instead. SHOULD NOT be collected by default unless there is sanitization that excludes sensitive data. | `C:\cmd\otecol --config="my directory\config.yaml"` | `Conditionally Required` [3] |  | | [`process.executable.name`](/docs/registry/attributes/process.md) | string | The name of the process executable. On Linux based systems, this SHOULD be set to the base name of the target of `/proc/[pid]/exe`. On Windows, this SHOULD be set to the base name of `GetProcessImageFileNameW`. | `otelcol` | `Conditionally Required` [4] |  | | [`process.executable.path`](/docs/registry/attributes/process.md) | string | The full path to the process executable. On Linux based systems, can be set to the target of `proc/[pid]/exe`. On Windows, can be set to the result of `GetProcessImageFileNameW`. | `/usr/bin/cmd/otelcol` | `Conditionally Required` [5] |  | | [`process.linux.cgroup`](/docs/registry/attributes/process.md) | string | The control group associated with the process. [6] | `1:name=systemd:/user.slice/user-1000.slice/session-3.scope`; `0::/user.slice/user-1000.slice/user@1000.service/tmux-spawn-0267755b-4639-4a27-90ed-f19f88e53748.scope` | `Recommended` |  | | [`process.owner`](/docs/registry/attributes/process.md) | string | The username of the user that owns the process. | `root` | `Recommended` |  | | [`process.parent_pid`](/docs/registry/attributes/process.md) | int | Parent Process identifier (PPID). | `111` | `Recommended` |  | | [`process.pid`](/docs/registry/attributes/process.md) | int | Process identifier (PID). | `1234` | `Recommended` |  | **[1] `process.command`:** See [Selecting process attributes](/docs/resource/process.md#selecting-process-attributes) for details. **[2] `process.command_args`:** See [Selecting process attributes](/docs/resource/process.md#selecting-process-attributes) for details. **[3] `process.command_line`:** See [Selecting process attributes](/docs/resource/process.md#selecting-process-attributes) for details. **[4] `process.executable.name`:** See [Selecting process attributes](/docs/resource/process.md#selecting-process-attributes) for details. **[5] `process.executable.path`:** See [Selecting process attributes](/docs/resource/process.md#selecting-process-attributes) for details. **[6] `process.linux.cgroup`:** Control groups (cgroups) are a kernel feature used to organize and manage process resources. This attribute provides the path(s) to the cgroup(s) associated with the process, which should match the contents of the [/proc/\[PID\]/cgroup](https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/cgroups.7.html) file. ## Process Runtime **Status:**  **type:** `process.runtime` **Description:** The single (language) runtime instance which is monitored. **Other Attributes:** > :warning: This entity definition contains attributes without a role. > Stable Entities MUST NOT have attributes without a defined role. | Attribute | Type | Description | Examples | [Requirement Level](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/specs/semconv/general/attribute-requirement-level/) | Stability | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | [`process.runtime.description`](/docs/registry/attributes/process.md) | string | An additional description about the runtime of the process, for example a specific vendor customization of the runtime environment. | `Eclipse OpenJ9 Eclipse OpenJ9 VM openj9-0.21.0` | `Recommended` |  | | [`process.runtime.name`](/docs/registry/attributes/process.md) | string | The name of the runtime of this process. | `OpenJDK Runtime Environment` | `Recommended` |  | | [`process.runtime.version`](/docs/registry/attributes/process.md) | string | The version of the runtime of this process, as returned by the runtime without modification. | `14.0.2` | `Recommended` |  |