CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonsubprocessnohup
James
James

Reputation: 25523

Run a program from python, and have it continue to run after the script is killed

I've tried running things like this:

subprocess.Popen(['nohup', 'my_command'],
                 stdout=open('/dev/null', 'w'),
                 stderr=open('logfile.log', 'a'))

This works if the parent script exits gracefully, but if I kill the script (Ctrl-C), all my child processes are killed too. Is there a way to avoid this?

The platforms I care about are OS X and Linux, using Python 2.6 and Python 2.7.

Upvotes: 49

Views: 52373

Answers (6)

user202729
user202729

Reputation: 3955

Another way is to make the subprocess ignore SIGINT.

import subprocess
import signal
subprocess.Popen(["sleep", "100"], preexec_fn=lambda: signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, signal.SIG_IGN))

Using preexec_fn ensures that the parent process's SIGINT handler is not changed. (if it's changed you need to restore it like this.)

Of course, this will only work if the subprocess does not proceed to reinstate the signal handler. In the following case where the subprocess installs a signal handler, the subprocess would still be killed:

import subprocess
import signal
process=subprocess.Popen(["python", "-c", "import signal\nimport time\nsignal.signal(signal.SIGINT, signal.SIG_DFL)\nwhile True: \n    print(1)\n    time.sleep(1)"], preexec_fn=lambda: signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, signal.SIG_IGN))
process.wait()

Credit to https://stackoverflow.com/a/3731948/5267751 .

Upvotes: 0

Zhiwei Huang
Zhiwei Huang

Reputation: 186

Since 3.2 you can also use start_new_session flag (POSIX only).

import subprocess

p = subprocess.Popen(["sleep", "60"], start_new_session=True)
ret = p.wait()

See start_new_session in Popen constructor

Upvotes: 5

Danil Shaykhutdinov
Danil Shaykhutdinov

Reputation: 2287

After an hour of various attempts, this works for me:

process = subprocess.Popen(["someprocess"], creationflags=subprocess.DETACHED_PROCESS | subprocess.CREATE_NEW_PROCESS_GROUP)

It's solution for windows.

Upvotes: 16

JonMc
JonMc

Reputation: 688

The child process receives the same SIGINT as your parent process because it's in the same process group. You can put the child in its own process group by calling os.setpgrp() in the child process. Popen's preexec_fn argument is useful here:

subprocess.Popen(['nohup', 'my_command'],
                 stdout=open('/dev/null', 'w'),
                 stderr=open('logfile.log', 'a'),
                 preexec_fn=os.setpgrp
                 )

(preexec_fn is for un*x-oids only. There appears to be a rough equivalent for Windows "creationflags=CREATE_NEW_PROCESS_GROUP", but I've never tried it.)

Upvotes: 68

Suuuehgi
Suuuehgi

Reputation: 4990

with open('/dev/null', 'w') as stdout, open('logfile.log', 'a') as stderr:
    subprocess.Popen(['my', 'command'], stdout=stdout, stderr=stderr)

class subprocess.Popen(...)

Execute a child program in a new process. On POSIX, the class uses os.execvp()-like behavior to execute the child program. On Windows, the class uses the Windows CreateProcess() function.

os.execvpe(file, args, env)

These functions all execute a new program, replacing the current process; they do not return. On Unix, the new executable is loaded into the current process, and will have the same process id as the caller. Errors will be reported as OSError exceptions.

Upvotes: -1

edoloughlin
edoloughlin

Reputation: 5901

The usual way to do this on Unix systems is to fork and exit if you're the parent. Have a look at os.fork() .

Here's a function that does the job:

def spawnDaemon(func):
    # do the UNIX double-fork magic, see Stevens' "Advanced 
    # Programming in the UNIX Environment" for details (ISBN 0201563177)
    try: 
        pid = os.fork() 
        if pid > 0:
            # parent process, return and keep running
            return
    except OSError, e:
        print >>sys.stderr, "fork #1 failed: %d (%s)" % (e.errno, e.strerror) 
        sys.exit(1)

    os.setsid()

    # do second fork
    try: 
        pid = os.fork() 
        if pid > 0:
            # exit from second parent
            sys.exit(0) 
    except OSError, e: 
        print >>sys.stderr, "fork #2 failed: %d (%s)" % (e.errno, e.strerror) 
        sys.exit(1)

    # do stuff
    func()

    # all done
    os._exit(os.EX_OK)

Upvotes: 33

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