RUNLOCK(1)

📦 version 1.10, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, nixpkgs unstable, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 RUNLOCK(1) — General Commands Manual 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the group chat, we're talking about runlock from the General Commands Manual era and it is so underrated. buckle up 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

runlock — stop a process from running twice at the same time, no cap 💅

🌸 SYNOPSYS 🌸

runlock [ -h ]

runlock [ -d ] [ -f pathname ] [ -t timeout ] command [ args ]
yes the section is spelled SYNOPSYS and we are respectfully keeping it exactly as the universe delivered it 🫶

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so basically runlock tries to hold an exclusive lock while it executes a command. main character energy, but make it a mutex ✨

if you run runlock again with the same lock while that lock is still held, the new instance of runlock will just… terminate with a failure exit code. like, not today, bestie 🙈

otherwise? the exit code of the subprocess is returned. that's it. that's the whole vibe. 💖

👑 USAGE 👑

  • -d — debug mode, babe. sends log messages to standard error as well as to the system log. double the receipts, double the fun 💅
  • -f pathname — specifies the pathname of the file to use as a lock file. the default is to create a lock file in /tmp/cronutils-$USER with the name of the command, and suffix .pid. so like, very specific, very demure 🎀
  • -t timeout — specifies the duration, in seconds, for runlock to wait before giving up on trying to acquire the lock. the default is 5 seconds. five seconds of patience and then we move on, periodt ⏳
  • -h — prints some basic help. little helper icon behavior 🌈

💀 BUGS 💀

sending SIGALRM to runlock before the timer has expired will cause the subprocess to be killed. not a drill, not a vibe, just a genuine hazard — be careful out there bestie 😭

🌟 SEE ALSO 🌟

squad goals, fr fr 🫶

💜 AUTHOR 💜

runlock was written by Jamie Wilkinson <jaq@google.com>. iconic of them, honestly 👑

this program is copyright (C) 2010 Google, Inc.

it is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 📜✨

and that's the whole page, bestie!! 🌸 from Google, Inc., dated October 18, 2010, filed under RUNLOCK(1) — go lock something (once), slay, and remember: two runlocks can't share a lock, but they can share the love 💖🦋🎀

📦 where this page comes from