How do I get python to fetch information from command prompt such as 'tasklist'

Question

I want a program in python that can get a list of all of the programs running, like all the .exe's, and I want to be able to get them into a variable or array so that I can maybe use a for loop to go through them and filter ones to be shut-down, this is what I've got below to try and get the tasklist using the tasklist command in python, any ideas on how to get all of the task names that the command prompt gives me into an array or variable

    import os 
    def shut():
        return(os.system('tasklist'))
    print(shut())

duplicate: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1632234/list-running-processes-on-64-bit-windows — DeepSpace, May 30 '15 at 10:36
or not, im running python 3.4.2 and that thread uses outdated python and xp 32 bit not windows 8.1 64 bit — user3854446, May 30 '15 at 10:40
The example there (using the `wmi` library) works for me on Windows 8.1 64bit. — DeepSpace, May 30 '15 at 10:42
Traceback (most recent call last): File "D:/Python/tasklist.py", line 1, in import wmi ImportError: No module named 'wmi' — user3854446, May 30 '15 at 10:43
`wmi` is an external library, you need to install by executing `pip install wmi` in the cmd or via your IDE if you're using Pycharm. — DeepSpace, May 30 '15 at 10:47
i need a solution that will work without external librarys if possible because the document will have to be ran on a system that isnt mine where i cant get external librarys — user3854446, May 30 '15 at 11:13

cdarke · Answer 1 · 2015-05-30T11:17:50.360

1

Here is a simple example using Python 3 and tasklist:

import subprocess

proc = subprocess.Popen('tasklist', stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
(output, error) = proc.communicate()

if error is not None:
    print("error:", error.decode())

print("output:", output.decode())

The decodes are required because byte objects are returned.

edited May 30 '15 at 11:17

answered May 30 '15 at 10:51

cdarke

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score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered May 30 '15 at 12:09

0

You can use the check_output function:

from subprocess import check_output
var = check_output('tasklist')

answered May 30 '15 at 12:09

John Wilson

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How do I get python to fetch information from command prompt such as 'tasklist'

2 Answers2