Execute a command with a timeout

timeout -k 1m 30s some_command

A timeout is great, but what if the command is taking longer than expected because it's hung up or ran into some other problem? That's where the -k option comes in. Run "some_command" and timeout after 30s. If the command is still running after 1 minute, it will receive a kill signal.

By: tlemerond

2012-03-27 18:06:18

fg bg kill timeout

7 Alternatives + Submit Alt

Start COMMAND, and kill it if still running after 5 seconds
This is sample output - yours may be different.
43

timeout 5s COMMAND

kev · 2011-11-19 06:14:33 7
Execute a command with a timeout
This is sample output - yours may be different.
23

timeout 10 sleep 11

grokskookum · 2009-09-23 14:59:40 20
Run a command for a given time

or "Execute a command with a timeout" Run a command in background, sleep 10 seconds, kill it. ! is the process id of the most recently executed background command. You can test it with: find /& sleep10; kill $!
This is sample output - yours may be different.
6

very_long_command& sleep 10; kill $!

dooblem · 2010-04-29 20:43:13 3
Execute a command with a timeout

In this example the command "somecommand" will be executed and sent a SIGALARM signal if it runs for more than 10 seconds. It uses the perl alarm function. It's not 100% accurate on timing, but close enough. I found this really useful when executing scripts and commands that I knew might hang E.g. ones that connect to services that might not be running. Importantly this can be used within a sequential script. The command will not release control until either the command completes or the timeout is hit. Show Sample Output
This is sample output - yours may be different.
```
$ perl -e "alarm 10; exec @ARGV" "sleep 2; echo Hello"
Hello
$ perl -e "alarm 10; exec @ARGV" "sleep 20; echo Hello"
Alarm clock
```
5

perl -e "alarm 10; exec @ARGV" "somecommand"

jgc · 2009-09-23 12:03:55 8
Execute a command with a timeout

I like much more the perl solution, but without using perl. It launches a backgroup process that will kill the command if it lasts too much. A bigger function: check_with_timeout() { [ "$DEBUG" ] && set -x COMMAND=$1 TIMEOUT=$2 RET=0 # Launch command in backgroup [ ! "$DEBUG" ] && exec 6>&2 # Link file descriptor #6 with stderr. [ ! "$DEBUG" ] && exec 2> /dev/null # Send stderr to null (avoid the Terminated messages) $COMMAND 2>&1 >/dev/null & COMMAND_PID=$! [ "$DEBUG" ] && echo "Background command pid $COMMAND_PID, parent pid $$" # Timer that will kill the command if timesout sleep $TIMEOUT && ps -p $COMMAND_PID -o pid,ppid |grep $$ | awk '{print $1}' | xargs kill & KILLER_PID=$! [ "$DEBUG" ] && echo "Killer command pid $KILLER_PID, parent pid $$" wait $COMMAND_PID RET=$? # Kill the killer timer [ "$DEBUG" ] && ps -e -o pid,ppid |grep $KILLER_PID | awk '{print $1}' | xargs echo "Killing processes: " ps -e -o pid,ppid |grep -v PID | grep $KILLER_PID | awk '{print $1}' | xargs kill wait sleep 1 [ ! "$DEBUG" ] && exec 2>&6 6>&- # Restore stderr and close file descriptor #6. return $RET }
This is sample output - yours may be different.
4

$COMMAND 2>&1 >/dev/null & WPID=$!; sleep $TIMEOUT && kill $! & KPID=$!; wait $WPID

keymon · 2010-05-26 11:12:26 2

What Others Think

rahimhh21 · 39 weeks and 5 days ago

Perfecthomepugs · 30 weeks and 3 days ago

What do you think?

Any thoughts on this command? Does it work on your machine? Can you do the same thing with only 14 characters?

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