Crontab job with timeout

I have a crontab job that executes a .sh script hourly. This script navigates(cd...) to a directory and then launches a java program (java -jar).

If I want to make sure the java program doesn't run for longer than 30 minutes, where should I set the timeout? Should it be in the crontab or in the .sh script?

Solution

Where you put the timeout is situation dependent. A metric I might use would be "What would most reduce the cognitive and maintenance burden on the next person (who might be me in a years time!)?" Sometimes, the context of the situation dictates to use an argument to the cronjob program, other times it is better to use timeout. Other times, you might use ...

Context matters. What makes the most sense in your situation?

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