timeout(1)

💖 timeout — the manual page, but make it make sense 💖

okay bestie, you know that one command in the uutils coreutils set that's like "run this thing, but if it's still being dramatic after a while, we're ending it"? yeah. that's timeout. she's the group-chat admin of processes and honestly? iconic. let's get into it 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

timeout — start COMMAND, and kill it if it's still running after DURATION. no cap, that's the whole job. she gives COMMAND a deadline and she MEANS it 💅

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

timeout [-f|--foreground] [-k|--kill-after] [-p|--preserve-status]
[-s|--signal] [-v|--verbose] [-h|--help] [-V|--version] <duration>
<command>

like… look at her. she's got options. she's got range. she's got <duration> and <command> and a whole lot of attitude ✨

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

Start COMMAND, and kill it if it's still running after DURATION.

that's it. that's the vibe. you hand her a command, you hand her a time limit, and if that command is still going when the clock runs out, she ends it. no hesitation. main character energy fr fr 👑

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🦋 OPTIONS 🦋

• -f, --foreground — when you're not running timeout directly from a shell prompt, this lets COMMAND read from the TTY and get TTY signals. heads up though: in this mode, children of COMMAND will not be timed out. so like, the babies are safe, only the parent gets the timer 🥲
• -k, --kill-after — also send a KILL signal if COMMAND is still running this long after the initial signal was sent. basically the "okay I asked nicely, now I'm not asking" option 😭
• -p, --preserve-status — exit with the same status as COMMAND, even when the command times out. so you get COMMAND's actual vibe as your exit code, not the timeout one 💖
• -s, --signal <SIGNAL> — specify the signal to be sent on timeout. SIGNAL can be a name like 'HUP' or a number. see kill -l for a list of signals 📋
• -v, --verbose — diagnose to stderr any signal sent upon timeout. she'll tell you exactly what she did and why. transparent queen ✨
• -h, --help — Print help 🙋
• -V, --version — Print version 🏷️
• <duration> — a floating point number with an optional suffix: 's' for seconds (the default), 'm' for minutes, 'h' for hours or 'd' for days ; a duration of 0 disables the associated timeout. yes bestie, 0 means the timer is OFF, she's just gonna stand there 🕰️
• <command> — a command to execute with optional arguments. this is the thing getting timed out, so choose wisely 🌈

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💀 EXTRA 💀

Upon timeout, send the TERM signal to COMMAND, if no other SIGNAL specified. The TERM signal kills any process that does not block or catch that signal. It may be necessary to use the KILL signal, since this signal can't be caught.

so like, TERM is the polite ask. some processes be catching it and ignoring it (rude). KILL can't be caught by anyone. that's the nuclear option and she will use it 💅

Exit status:

• 124 — if COMMAND times out, and --preserve-status is not specified
• 125 — if the timeout command itself fails
• 126 — if COMMAND is found but cannot be invoked
• 127 — if COMMAND cannot be found
• 137 — if COMMAND (or timeout itself) is sent the KILL (9) signal (128+9)
• - — the exit status of COMMAND otherwise

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⭐ VERSION ⭐

v(uutils coreutils) 0.7.0

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and that's the whole page, bestie. timeout (uutils coreutils) 0.7.0, straight from the General Commands Manual to your group chat 💖 go forth and time things out responsibly. iykyk 🧚‍♀️🌸