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linuxshelltimeoutkillterminate

linux kill process using timeout in milliseconds

I want to force terminate a program after a specified time is elapsed on linux. I found that 'timeout' util in linux can kill a program after a specified time, but it does not accept MILLISECONDS. That is, "timeout TIME ./PROGRAM" kills PROGRAM after TIME elapsed where TIME is not milliseconds but seconds. Is there a way to kill a process after some MILLISECONDS on linux SHELL? Any comments would be appreciated.

Solution

  • You can do something like this:

    #!/bin/bash

#execute command in background
<command> & 

#get process ID
PROC=$! 

#sleep for 10 milliseconds then kill command
(usleep 10000; kill $PROC) & 

#bring back the process ID, finish command or kill it
fg $PROC