Iterating through processes in Python leads to `[Errno 3] assume no such process`

Question

In Python 3.8.5, if I run psutil.process_iter() and then iterate through the processes I get an error. Here's some simple code that does it:

import psutil
for proc in psutil.process_iter():
    try:
        proc.name()
    except psutil.ZombieProcess:
        pass

The result is ProcessLookupError: [Errno 3] assume no such process (originated from sysctl(KERN_PROCARGS2) -> EINVAL) . I'm running this on an up-to-date OS X (Monterey 12.5.1). I can simply swallow the error like I do with ZombieProcess , but I'd like to understand what is going on first and then if there is a more "correct" workaround.

Answer 1

I would recommend debugging a bit further to see if this is caused by a specific proc

for proc in psutil.process_iter():
try:
    proc.name()
except psutil.ZombieProcess:
    print(proc)
    pass

Proc usually prints out status

I'm not sure if you're sure you have a zombie process or if you're checking for one.