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.
45

timeout 5s COMMAND

kev · 2011-11-19 06:14:33 13
Execute a command with a timeout
This is sample output - yours may be different.
24

timeout 10 sleep 11

grokskookum · 2009-09-23 14:59:40 27
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 7
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 9
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 4

What Others Think

rahimhh21 · 139 weeks and 1 day ago

Perfecthomepugs · 129 weeks and 6 days ago

pugpuppies95 · 92 weeks ago

yeneba6574 · 45 weeks and 2 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?

You must be signed in to comment.

What's this?

commandlinefu.com is the place to record those command-line gems that you return to again and again. That way others can gain from your CLI wisdom and you from theirs too. All commands can be commented on, discussed and voted up or down.

Share Your Commands

Similar Commands

Check a nfs mountpoint and force a remount if it does not reply after a given timeout.

[zsh]: what does 'nyae' mean?

Scan Network for Rogue APs.

Stay in the loop…

Follow the Tweets.

Every new command is wrapped in a tweet and posted to Twitter. Following the stream is a great way of staying abreast of the latest commands. For the more discerning, there are Twitter accounts for commands that get a minimum of 3 and 10 votes - that way only the great commands get tweeted.

» http://twitter.com/commandlinefu
» http://twitter.com/commandlinefu3
» http://twitter.com/commandlinefu10

Subscribe to the feeds.

Use your favourite RSS aggregator to stay in touch with the latest commands. There are feeds mirroring the 3 Twitter streams as well as for virtually every other subset (users, tags, functions,…):

Subscribe to the feed for:

» all commands
» commands with 3 up-votes (commandlinefu3)
» commands with 10 up-votes (commandlinefu10)