The timeout command in Linux allows you to run a command with a time limit. If the command takes longer than the specified time, timeout will automatically terminate it.

Basic Syntax

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

• DURATION: Specifies the time limit in seconds (default) or with a suffix (e.g., s for seconds, m for minutes, h for hours, and d for days).
• COMMAND: The command you want to run with a timeout.

Example Usage

• Timeout with Seconds

timeout 10s ping google.com

This will run ping google.com for 10 seconds and then terminate it.

• Timeout with Minutes

timeout 2m your_script.sh

This will run your_script.sh for 2 minutes and then terminate it if it’s still running.

• Specify a Different Signal By default, timeout sends a SIGTERM signal to stop the command. You can use the s option to send a different signal, like SIGKILL.

timeout -s SIGKILL 5s your_script.sh

• Using -preserve-status Option Normally, timeout exits with a status of 124 if it times out. Use -preserve-status if you want it to return the command’s original exit status.

timeout --preserve-status 5s your_script.sh

Conclusion

Timeout is a handy command that you can use for a number of reasons. My specific use case is large quantity file transfer — git, sftp and rsync. You must try it.

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