What is this mystery process: “-i”?











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I have a mystery process visible in Activity Monitor, simply called "-i" - don't remember ever seeing this before. Its parent process is launchd, and belongs to root.




  • Persists between reboots;

  • Sometimes high CPU use.


Can't find any reference to it online anywhere either!



enter image description here



Macos 10.13.6










share|improve this question
























  • And when you press "quit"...?
    – Mateus Ribeiro
    3 hours ago










  • what does it say when you run Sample process on it ?
    – Buscar웃
    3 hours ago






  • 3




    In Terminal run sudo /Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app/Contents/MacOS/Activity Monitor to launch Activity Monitor with more privileges, then get info on the process and look at the "Open Files and Ports" for a hint.
    – Redarm
    3 hours ago










  • The 'open files and ports' option is not something I've tried, works as well as the lsof command.
    – Simbamangu
    2 hours ago















up vote
3
down vote

favorite












I have a mystery process visible in Activity Monitor, simply called "-i" - don't remember ever seeing this before. Its parent process is launchd, and belongs to root.




  • Persists between reboots;

  • Sometimes high CPU use.


Can't find any reference to it online anywhere either!



enter image description here



Macos 10.13.6










share|improve this question
























  • And when you press "quit"...?
    – Mateus Ribeiro
    3 hours ago










  • what does it say when you run Sample process on it ?
    – Buscar웃
    3 hours ago






  • 3




    In Terminal run sudo /Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app/Contents/MacOS/Activity Monitor to launch Activity Monitor with more privileges, then get info on the process and look at the "Open Files and Ports" for a hint.
    – Redarm
    3 hours ago










  • The 'open files and ports' option is not something I've tried, works as well as the lsof command.
    – Simbamangu
    2 hours ago













up vote
3
down vote

favorite









up vote
3
down vote

favorite











I have a mystery process visible in Activity Monitor, simply called "-i" - don't remember ever seeing this before. Its parent process is launchd, and belongs to root.




  • Persists between reboots;

  • Sometimes high CPU use.


Can't find any reference to it online anywhere either!



enter image description here



Macos 10.13.6










share|improve this question















I have a mystery process visible in Activity Monitor, simply called "-i" - don't remember ever seeing this before. Its parent process is launchd, and belongs to root.




  • Persists between reboots;

  • Sometimes high CPU use.


Can't find any reference to it online anywhere either!



enter image description here



Macos 10.13.6







macos activity-monitor






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













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edited 3 hours ago









Monomeeth

43.9k793134




43.9k793134










asked 4 hours ago









Simbamangu

18529




18529












  • And when you press "quit"...?
    – Mateus Ribeiro
    3 hours ago










  • what does it say when you run Sample process on it ?
    – Buscar웃
    3 hours ago






  • 3




    In Terminal run sudo /Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app/Contents/MacOS/Activity Monitor to launch Activity Monitor with more privileges, then get info on the process and look at the "Open Files and Ports" for a hint.
    – Redarm
    3 hours ago










  • The 'open files and ports' option is not something I've tried, works as well as the lsof command.
    – Simbamangu
    2 hours ago


















  • And when you press "quit"...?
    – Mateus Ribeiro
    3 hours ago










  • what does it say when you run Sample process on it ?
    – Buscar웃
    3 hours ago






  • 3




    In Terminal run sudo /Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app/Contents/MacOS/Activity Monitor to launch Activity Monitor with more privileges, then get info on the process and look at the "Open Files and Ports" for a hint.
    – Redarm
    3 hours ago










  • The 'open files and ports' option is not something I've tried, works as well as the lsof command.
    – Simbamangu
    2 hours ago
















And when you press "quit"...?
– Mateus Ribeiro
3 hours ago




And when you press "quit"...?
– Mateus Ribeiro
3 hours ago












what does it say when you run Sample process on it ?
– Buscar웃
3 hours ago




what does it say when you run Sample process on it ?
– Buscar웃
3 hours ago




3




3




In Terminal run sudo /Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app/Contents/MacOS/Activity Monitor to launch Activity Monitor with more privileges, then get info on the process and look at the "Open Files and Ports" for a hint.
– Redarm
3 hours ago




In Terminal run sudo /Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app/Contents/MacOS/Activity Monitor to launch Activity Monitor with more privileges, then get info on the process and look at the "Open Files and Ports" for a hint.
– Redarm
3 hours ago












The 'open files and ports' option is not something I've tried, works as well as the lsof command.
– Simbamangu
2 hours ago




The 'open files and ports' option is not something I've tried, works as well as the lsof command.
– Simbamangu
2 hours ago










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes

















up vote
3
down vote



accepted










The best way to find out is to note the Process ID (PID) listed in Activity Monitor for the mysterious "-i" process.



Then open Terminal.app and execute the following command:



sudo lsof -p 1234


where 1234 should be replaced with the PID number you've found in Activity Monitor.



The lsof command will give you a list of files that are opened by the mysterious process. The first line of output will tell you the "cwd", which is the current working directory of the process. It is probably not going to tell you much.



The second line of output is usually a "txt" file descriptor that will tell you the name of the executable (i.e. the program) that is running in the program.



This should tell you which program is running as "-i".






share|improve this answer





















  • This worked - turns out it's Malwarebytes RTProtectionDaemon, which must have changed in recent update as I've not seen that before. lsof is a great tool, thanks for the tip.
    – Simbamangu
    2 hours ago










  • Wow. You'd really think that malware prevention software—of all things—would give their processes intelligent names. Hopefully this is a bug of some sort.
    – Wowfunhappy
    1 hour ago


















up vote
0
down vote













Enter the following command in Terminal:



/usr/bin/sudo launchctl list


to get the complete list of processes managed by launchd.



If the strange process doesn’t seem easy to find, insert the output within your original question to get a more accurate answer.






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    2 Answers
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    2 Answers
    2






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    up vote
    3
    down vote



    accepted










    The best way to find out is to note the Process ID (PID) listed in Activity Monitor for the mysterious "-i" process.



    Then open Terminal.app and execute the following command:



    sudo lsof -p 1234


    where 1234 should be replaced with the PID number you've found in Activity Monitor.



    The lsof command will give you a list of files that are opened by the mysterious process. The first line of output will tell you the "cwd", which is the current working directory of the process. It is probably not going to tell you much.



    The second line of output is usually a "txt" file descriptor that will tell you the name of the executable (i.e. the program) that is running in the program.



    This should tell you which program is running as "-i".






    share|improve this answer





















    • This worked - turns out it's Malwarebytes RTProtectionDaemon, which must have changed in recent update as I've not seen that before. lsof is a great tool, thanks for the tip.
      – Simbamangu
      2 hours ago










    • Wow. You'd really think that malware prevention software—of all things—would give their processes intelligent names. Hopefully this is a bug of some sort.
      – Wowfunhappy
      1 hour ago















    up vote
    3
    down vote



    accepted










    The best way to find out is to note the Process ID (PID) listed in Activity Monitor for the mysterious "-i" process.



    Then open Terminal.app and execute the following command:



    sudo lsof -p 1234


    where 1234 should be replaced with the PID number you've found in Activity Monitor.



    The lsof command will give you a list of files that are opened by the mysterious process. The first line of output will tell you the "cwd", which is the current working directory of the process. It is probably not going to tell you much.



    The second line of output is usually a "txt" file descriptor that will tell you the name of the executable (i.e. the program) that is running in the program.



    This should tell you which program is running as "-i".






    share|improve this answer





















    • This worked - turns out it's Malwarebytes RTProtectionDaemon, which must have changed in recent update as I've not seen that before. lsof is a great tool, thanks for the tip.
      – Simbamangu
      2 hours ago










    • Wow. You'd really think that malware prevention software—of all things—would give their processes intelligent names. Hopefully this is a bug of some sort.
      – Wowfunhappy
      1 hour ago













    up vote
    3
    down vote



    accepted







    up vote
    3
    down vote



    accepted






    The best way to find out is to note the Process ID (PID) listed in Activity Monitor for the mysterious "-i" process.



    Then open Terminal.app and execute the following command:



    sudo lsof -p 1234


    where 1234 should be replaced with the PID number you've found in Activity Monitor.



    The lsof command will give you a list of files that are opened by the mysterious process. The first line of output will tell you the "cwd", which is the current working directory of the process. It is probably not going to tell you much.



    The second line of output is usually a "txt" file descriptor that will tell you the name of the executable (i.e. the program) that is running in the program.



    This should tell you which program is running as "-i".






    share|improve this answer












    The best way to find out is to note the Process ID (PID) listed in Activity Monitor for the mysterious "-i" process.



    Then open Terminal.app and execute the following command:



    sudo lsof -p 1234


    where 1234 should be replaced with the PID number you've found in Activity Monitor.



    The lsof command will give you a list of files that are opened by the mysterious process. The first line of output will tell you the "cwd", which is the current working directory of the process. It is probably not going to tell you much.



    The second line of output is usually a "txt" file descriptor that will tell you the name of the executable (i.e. the program) that is running in the program.



    This should tell you which program is running as "-i".







    share|improve this answer












    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer










    answered 3 hours ago









    jksoegaard

    14k1640




    14k1640












    • This worked - turns out it's Malwarebytes RTProtectionDaemon, which must have changed in recent update as I've not seen that before. lsof is a great tool, thanks for the tip.
      – Simbamangu
      2 hours ago










    • Wow. You'd really think that malware prevention software—of all things—would give their processes intelligent names. Hopefully this is a bug of some sort.
      – Wowfunhappy
      1 hour ago


















    • This worked - turns out it's Malwarebytes RTProtectionDaemon, which must have changed in recent update as I've not seen that before. lsof is a great tool, thanks for the tip.
      – Simbamangu
      2 hours ago










    • Wow. You'd really think that malware prevention software—of all things—would give their processes intelligent names. Hopefully this is a bug of some sort.
      – Wowfunhappy
      1 hour ago
















    This worked - turns out it's Malwarebytes RTProtectionDaemon, which must have changed in recent update as I've not seen that before. lsof is a great tool, thanks for the tip.
    – Simbamangu
    2 hours ago




    This worked - turns out it's Malwarebytes RTProtectionDaemon, which must have changed in recent update as I've not seen that before. lsof is a great tool, thanks for the tip.
    – Simbamangu
    2 hours ago












    Wow. You'd really think that malware prevention software—of all things—would give their processes intelligent names. Hopefully this is a bug of some sort.
    – Wowfunhappy
    1 hour ago




    Wow. You'd really think that malware prevention software—of all things—would give their processes intelligent names. Hopefully this is a bug of some sort.
    – Wowfunhappy
    1 hour ago












    up vote
    0
    down vote













    Enter the following command in Terminal:



    /usr/bin/sudo launchctl list


    to get the complete list of processes managed by launchd.



    If the strange process doesn’t seem easy to find, insert the output within your original question to get a more accurate answer.






    share|improve this answer

























      up vote
      0
      down vote













      Enter the following command in Terminal:



      /usr/bin/sudo launchctl list


      to get the complete list of processes managed by launchd.



      If the strange process doesn’t seem easy to find, insert the output within your original question to get a more accurate answer.






      share|improve this answer























        up vote
        0
        down vote










        up vote
        0
        down vote









        Enter the following command in Terminal:



        /usr/bin/sudo launchctl list


        to get the complete list of processes managed by launchd.



        If the strange process doesn’t seem easy to find, insert the output within your original question to get a more accurate answer.






        share|improve this answer












        Enter the following command in Terminal:



        /usr/bin/sudo launchctl list


        to get the complete list of processes managed by launchd.



        If the strange process doesn’t seem easy to find, insert the output within your original question to get a more accurate answer.







        share|improve this answer












        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer










        answered 3 hours ago









        daniel Azuelos

        7,47023190




        7,47023190






























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