Timeout Command in Linux | Linuxize

timeout is a command-line utility that runs a specified command and terminates it if it is still running after a given period of time. In other words, timeout allows you to run a command with a time limit. The timeout command is a part of the GNU core utilities package, which is installed on almost any Linux distribution.

It is handy when you want to run a command that doesn’t have a built-in timeout option.

In this article, we will explain how to use the Linux timeout command.

How to Use the timeout Command #

The syntax for the timeout command is as follows:

timeout [OPTIONS] DURATION COMMAND [ARG]…

The DURATION can be a positive integer or a floating-point number, followed by an optional unit suffix:

• s – seconds (default)
• m – minutes
• h – hours
• d – days

When no unit is used, it defaults to seconds. If the duration is set to zero, the associated timeout is disabled.

The command options must be provided before the arguments.

Here are a few basic examples demonstrating how to use the timeout command:

• Terminate a command after five seconds:

  timeout 5 ping 8.8.8.8

• Terminate a command after five minutes:

  timeout 5m ping 8.8.8.8

• Terminate a command after one minute and six seconds:

  timeout 1.1m ping 8.8.8.8

If you want to run a command that requires elevated privileges such as tcpdump
, prepend sudo
before timeout:

sudo timeout 300 tcpdump -n -w data.pcap

Sending Specific Signal #

If no signal is given, timeout sends the SIGTERM signal to the managed command when the time limit is reached. You can specify which signal to send using the -s (--signal) option.

For example, to send SIGKILL to the ping
command after one minute, you would use:

sudo timeout -s SIGKILL ping 8.8.8.8

You can specify the signal by the name, such as SIGKILL, or its number like 9. The following command is identical to the previous one:

sudo timeout -s 9 ping 8.8.8.8

To get a list of all available signals, use the kill -l
command:

kill -l

Killing Stuck Processes #

SIGTERM, the default signal sent when the time limit is exceeded, can be caught or ignored by some processes. In those situations, the process continues to run after the termination signal is sent.

To make sure the monitored command is killed, use the -k (--kill-after) option followed by a time period. When this option is used after the given time limit is reached, the timeout command sends the SIGKILL signal to the managed program that cannot be caught or ignored.

In the following example, timeout runs the command for one minute, and if it is not terminated, it will kill it after ten seconds:

sudo timeout -k 10 1m ping 8.8.8.8

timeout -k “./test.sh”

killed after the given time limit is reached

Preserving the Exit Status #

timeout returns 124 when the time limit is reached. Otherwise, it returns the exit status
of the managed command.

To return the exit status of the command even when the time limit is reached, use the --preserve-status option:

timeout --preserve-status 5 ping 8.8.8.8

Running in Foreground #

By default, timeout runs the managed command in the background. If you want to run the command in the foreground, use the --foreground option:

timeout --foreground 5m ./script.sh

This option is useful when you want to run an interactive command that requires user input.

Conclusion #

The timeout command is used to run a given command with a time limit.

timeout is a simple command that doesn’t have a lot of options. Typically you will invoke timeout only with two arguments, the duration and the managed command.

If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to leave a comment.