Run a command with a time limit.

Synopsis

timeout [OPTION] DURATION COMMAND [ARG]...

Description

Starts COMMAND, and kills it if still running after DURATION. DURATION is a number with an optional suffix: s (seconds, default), m (minutes), h (hours), d (days).

Options

-k, --kill-after=DURATION Send KILL signal after DURATION if still running.

-s, --signal=SIGNAL Specify signal to send (default: TERM).

--preserve-status Exit with the same status as COMMAND, even on timeout.

--foreground Run command in foreground.

--help Display help and exit.

Examples

$ timeout 10 curl https://example.com

Abort the request if it takes more than 10 seconds.

$ timeout 5m long-task.sh

Give a script up to 5 minutes to finish.

See Also

time, sleep