How to add a timeout value when using Java's Runtime.exec()? - java

I have a method I am using to execute a command on the local host. I'd like to add a timeout parameter to the method so that if the command being called doesn't finish in a reasonable amount of time the method will return with an error code. Here's what it looks like so far, without the ability to timeout:
public static int executeCommandLine(final String commandLine,
final boolean printOutput,
final boolean printError)
throws IOException, InterruptedException
{
Runtime runtime = Runtime.getRuntime();
Process process = runtime.exec(commandLine);
if (printOutput)
{
BufferedReader outputReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(process.getInputStream()));
System.out.println("Output: " + outputReader.readLine());
}
if (printError)
{
BufferedReader errorReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(process.getErrorStream()));
System.out.println("Error: " + errorReader.readLine());
}
return process.waitFor();
}
Can anyone suggest a good way for me to implement a timeout parameter?

If you're using Java 8 or later you could simply use the new waitFor with timeout:
Process p = ...
if(!p.waitFor(1, TimeUnit.MINUTES)) {
//timeout - kill the process.
p.destroy(); // consider using destroyForcibly instead
}

public static int executeCommandLine(final String commandLine,
final boolean printOutput,
final boolean printError,
final long timeout)
throws IOException, InterruptedException, TimeoutException {
Runtime runtime = Runtime.getRuntime();
Process process = runtime.exec(commandLine);
/* Set up process I/O. */
...
Worker worker = new Worker(process);
worker.start();
try {
worker.join(timeout);
if (worker.exit != null)
return worker.exit;
else
throw new TimeoutException();
} catch(InterruptedException ex) {
worker.interrupt();
Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
throw ex;
} finally {
process.destroyForcibly();
}
}
private static class Worker extends Thread {
private final Process process;
private Integer exit;
private Worker(Process process) {
this.process = process;
}
public void run() {
try {
exit = process.waitFor();
} catch (InterruptedException ignore) {
return;
}
}
}

Following the answer by erickson, I created a more generic way to do the same thing.
public class ProcessWithTimeout extends Thread
{
private Process m_process;
private int m_exitCode = Integer.MIN_VALUE;
public ProcessWithTimeout(Process p_process)
{
m_process = p_process;
}
public int waitForProcess(int p_timeoutMilliseconds)
{
this.start();
try
{
this.join(p_timeoutMilliseconds);
}
catch (InterruptedException e)
{
this.interrupt();
}
return m_exitCode;
}
#Override
public void run()
{
try
{
m_exitCode = m_process.waitFor();
}
catch (InterruptedException ignore)
{
// Do nothing
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
// Unexpected exception
}
}
}
Now, all you have to do is as follows:
Process process = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("<your command goes here>");
ProcessWithTimeout processWithTimeout = new ProcessWithTimeout(process);
int exitCode = processWithTimeout.waitForProcess(5000);
if (exitCode == Integer.MIN_VALUE)
{
// Timeout
}
else
{
// No timeout !
}

I implemented this using the three approaches suggested which came with detailed code example (I am a novice with thread programming and these example codes were invaluable -- I would still be scratching my head as to how to do this if it was just explained in English without code).
I implemented the utility class I'm using for this with the three methods for executing a command with a timeout like so:
package com.abc.network.lifecycle.util;
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
import java.util.concurrent.Future;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;
import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
/**
* Utility class for performing process related functions such as command line processing.
*/
public class ProcessUtility
{
static Log log = LogFactory.getLog(ProcessUtility.class);
/**
* Thread class to be used as a worker
*/
private static class Worker
extends Thread
{
private final Process process;
private Integer exitValue;
Worker(final Process process)
{
this.process = process;
}
public Integer getExitValue()
{
return exitValue;
}
#Override
public void run()
{
try
{
exitValue = process.waitFor();
}
catch (InterruptedException ignore)
{
return;
}
}
}
/**
* Executes a command.
*
* #param command
* #param printOutput
* #param printError
* #param timeOut
* #return
* #throws java.io.IOException
* #throws java.lang.InterruptedException
*/
public static int executeCommandWithExecutors(final String command,
final boolean printOutput,
final boolean printError,
final long timeOut)
{
// validate the system and command line and get a system-appropriate command line
String massagedCommand = validateSystemAndMassageCommand(command);
try
{
// create the process which will run the command
Runtime runtime = Runtime.getRuntime();
final Process process = runtime.exec(massagedCommand);
// consume and display the error and output streams
StreamGobbler outputGobbler = new StreamGobbler(process.getInputStream(), "OUTPUT", printOutput);
StreamGobbler errorGobbler = new StreamGobbler(process.getErrorStream(), "ERROR", printError);
outputGobbler.start();
errorGobbler.start();
// create a Callable for the command's Process which can be called by an Executor
Callable<Integer> call = new Callable<Integer>()
{
public Integer call()
throws Exception
{
process.waitFor();
return process.exitValue();
}
};
// submit the command's call and get the result from a
Future<Integer> futureResultOfCall = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor().submit(call);
try
{
int exitValue = futureResultOfCall.get(timeOut, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
return exitValue;
}
catch (TimeoutException ex)
{
String errorMessage = "The command [" + command + "] timed out.";
log.error(errorMessage, ex);
throw new RuntimeException(errorMessage, ex);
}
catch (ExecutionException ex)
{
String errorMessage = "The command [" + command + "] did not complete due to an execution error.";
log.error(errorMessage, ex);
throw new RuntimeException(errorMessage, ex);
}
}
catch (InterruptedException ex)
{
String errorMessage = "The command [" + command + "] did not complete due to an unexpected interruption.";
log.error(errorMessage, ex);
throw new RuntimeException(errorMessage, ex);
}
catch (IOException ex)
{
String errorMessage = "The command [" + command + "] did not complete due to an IO error.";
log.error(errorMessage, ex);
throw new RuntimeException(errorMessage, ex);
}
}
/**
* Executes a command.
*
* #param command
* #param printOutput
* #param printError
* #param timeOut
* #return
* #throws java.io.IOException
* #throws java.lang.InterruptedException
*/
public static int executeCommandWithSleep(final String command,
final boolean printOutput,
final boolean printError,
final long timeOut)
{
// validate the system and command line and get a system-appropriate command line
String massagedCommand = validateSystemAndMassageCommand(command);
try
{
// create the process which will run the command
Runtime runtime = Runtime.getRuntime();
Process process = runtime.exec(massagedCommand);
// consume and display the error and output streams
StreamGobbler outputGobbler = new StreamGobbler(process.getInputStream(), "OUTPUT", printOutput);
StreamGobbler errorGobbler = new StreamGobbler(process.getErrorStream(), "ERROR", printError);
outputGobbler.start();
errorGobbler.start();
// run a thread which will set a flag once it has slept for the timeout period
final boolean[] flags = { true };
new Thread()
{
#Override
public void run()
{
try
{
Thread.sleep(timeOut);
}
catch (InterruptedException ex)
{
String errorMessage = "Timeout loop thread unexpectedly interrupted.";
log.error(errorMessage, ex);
throw new RuntimeException(errorMessage, ex);
}
flags[0] = false;
}
}.start();
// execute the command and wait
int returnValue = -1;
while (flags[0] && (returnValue < 0))
{
returnValue = process.waitFor();
}
// if the command timed out then log it
if (returnValue < 0)
{
log.warn("The command [" + command + "] did not complete before the timeout period expired (timeout: " +
timeOut + " ms)");
}
return returnValue;
}
catch (InterruptedException ex)
{
String errorMessage = "The command [" + command + "] did not complete due to an unexpected interruption.";
log.error(errorMessage, ex);
throw new RuntimeException(errorMessage, ex);
}
catch (IOException ex)
{
String errorMessage = "The command [" + command + "] did not complete due to an IO error.";
log.error(errorMessage, ex);
throw new RuntimeException(errorMessage, ex);
}
}
/**
* Executes a command.
*
* #param command
* #param printOutput
* #param printError
* #param timeOut
* #return
* #throws java.io.IOException
* #throws java.lang.InterruptedException
*/
public static int executeCommandWithWorker(final String command,
final boolean printOutput,
final boolean printError,
final long timeOut)
{
// validate the system and command line and get a system-appropriate command line
String massagedCommand = validateSystemAndMassageCommand(command);
try
{
// create the process which will run the command
Runtime runtime = Runtime.getRuntime();
Process process = runtime.exec(massagedCommand);
// consume and display the error and output streams
StreamGobbler outputGobbler = new StreamGobbler(process.getInputStream(), "OUTPUT", printOutput);
StreamGobbler errorGobbler = new StreamGobbler(process.getErrorStream(), "ERROR", printError);
outputGobbler.start();
errorGobbler.start();
// create and start a Worker thread which this thread will join for the timeout period
Worker worker = new Worker(process);
worker.start();
try
{
worker.join(timeOut);
Integer exitValue = worker.getExitValue();
if (exitValue != null)
{
// the worker thread completed within the timeout period
return exitValue;
}
// if we get this far then we never got an exit value from the worker thread as a result of a timeout
String errorMessage = "The command [" + command + "] timed out.";
log.error(errorMessage);
throw new RuntimeException(errorMessage);
}
catch (InterruptedException ex)
{
worker.interrupt();
Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
throw ex;
}
}
catch (InterruptedException ex)
{
String errorMessage = "The command [" + command + "] did not complete due to an unexpected interruption.";
log.error(errorMessage, ex);
throw new RuntimeException(errorMessage, ex);
}
catch (IOException ex)
{
String errorMessage = "The command [" + command + "] did not complete due to an IO error.";
log.error(errorMessage, ex);
throw new RuntimeException(errorMessage, ex);
}
}
/**
* Validates that the system is running a supported OS and returns a system-appropriate command line.
*
* #param originalCommand
* #return
*/
private static String validateSystemAndMassageCommand(final String originalCommand)
{
// make sure that we have a command
if (originalCommand.isEmpty() || (originalCommand.length() < 1))
{
String errorMessage = "Missing or empty command line parameter.";
log.error(errorMessage);
throw new RuntimeException(errorMessage);
}
// make sure that we are running on a supported system, and if so set the command line appropriately
String massagedCommand;
String osName = System.getProperty("os.name");
if (osName.equals("Windows XP"))
{
massagedCommand = "cmd.exe /C " + originalCommand;
}
else if (osName.equals("Solaris") || osName.equals("SunOS") || osName.equals("Linux"))
{
massagedCommand = originalCommand;
}
else
{
String errorMessage = "Unable to run on this system which is not Solaris, Linux, or Windows XP (actual OS type: \'" +
osName + "\').";
log.error(errorMessage);
throw new RuntimeException(errorMessage);
}
return massagedCommand;
}
}
I created a class to consume and display the output and error streams from a command (taken from http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-12-2000/jw-1229-traps.html?page=4):
package com.abc.network.lifecycle.util;
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
/**
* Utility thread class which consumes and displays stream input.
*
* Original code taken from http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-12-2000/jw-1229-traps.html?page=4
*/
class StreamGobbler
extends Thread
{
static private Log log = LogFactory.getLog(StreamGobbler.class);
private InputStream inputStream;
private String streamType;
private boolean displayStreamOutput;
/**
* Constructor.
*
* #param inputStream the InputStream to be consumed
* #param streamType the stream type (should be OUTPUT or ERROR)
* #param displayStreamOutput whether or not to display the output of the stream being consumed
*/
StreamGobbler(final InputStream inputStream,
final String streamType,
final boolean displayStreamOutput)
{
this.inputStream = inputStream;
this.streamType = streamType;
this.displayStreamOutput = displayStreamOutput;
}
/**
* Consumes the output from the input stream and displays the lines consumed if configured to do so.
*/
#Override
public void run()
{
try
{
InputStreamReader inputStreamReader = new InputStreamReader(inputStream);
BufferedReader bufferedReader = new BufferedReader(inputStreamReader);
String line = null;
while ((line = bufferedReader.readLine()) != null)
{
if (displayStreamOutput)
{
System.out.println(streamType + ">" + line);
}
}
}
catch (IOException ex)
{
log.error("Failed to successfully consume and display the input stream of type " + streamType + ".", ex);
ex.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
I created a test command which takes roughly 10 seconds to complete:
#!/bin/bash
sleep 10
echo 'TEST COMMAND RAN OK'
Then I created a test program to test the three different methods, calling each with a timeout value of 5 seconds (command should fail) and with a timeout value of 15 seconds (command should succeed):
package com.abc.network.lifecycle.util;
public class ProcessUtilityTester
{
/**
* #param args
*/
public static void main(final String[] args)
{
try
{
String command = args[0];
int exitValue = -1;
System.out.println("\n\n5000ms timeout With Executors:");
try
{
exitValue = -1;
exitValue = ProcessUtility.executeCommandWithExecutors(command, true, true, 5000);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
ex.printStackTrace();
}
finally
{
System.out.println("\nExit value:" + exitValue);
}
System.out.println("\n\n5000ms timeout With Sleep:");
try
{
exitValue = -1;
exitValue = ProcessUtility.executeCommandWithSleep(command, true, true, 5000);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
ex.printStackTrace();
}
finally
{
System.out.println("\nExit value:" + exitValue);
}
System.out.println("\n\n5000ms timeout With Worker:");
try
{
exitValue = -1;
exitValue = ProcessUtility.executeCommandWithWorker(command, true, true, 5000);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
ex.printStackTrace();
}
finally
{
System.out.println("\nExit value:" + exitValue);
}
System.out.println("\n\n15000ms timeout With Executors:");
try
{
exitValue = -1;
exitValue = ProcessUtility.executeCommandWithExecutors(command, true, true, 15000);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
ex.printStackTrace();
}
finally
{
System.out.println("\nExit value:" + exitValue);
}
System.out.println("\n\n15000ms timeout With Sleep:");
try
{
exitValue = -1;
exitValue = ProcessUtility.executeCommandWithSleep(command, true, true, 15000);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
ex.printStackTrace();
}
finally
{
System.out.println("\nExit value:" + exitValue);
}
System.out.println("\n\n15000ms timeout With Worker:");
try
{
exitValue = -1;
exitValue = ProcessUtility.executeCommandWithWorker(command, true, true, 15000);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
ex.printStackTrace();
}
finally
{
System.out.println("\nExit value:" + exitValue);
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
ex.printStackTrace();
}
finally
{
System.exit(0);
}
}
}
Here's what I see when I run the test program:
5000ms timeout With Executors:
May 1, 2009 1:55:19 AM com.abc.network.lifecycle.util.ProcessUtility executeCommandWithExecutors
SEVERE: The command [/tmp/testcmd.sh] timed out.
java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerGet(FutureTask.java:228)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.get(FutureTask.java:91)
at com.abc.network.lifecycle.util.ProcessUtility.executeCommandWithExecutors(ProcessUtility.java:179)
at com.abc.network.lifecycle.util.ProcessUtilityTester.main(ProcessUtilityTester.java:19)
java.lang.RuntimeException: The command [/tmp/testcmd.sh] timed out.
at com.abc.network.lifecycle.util.ProcessUtility.executeCommandWithExecutors(ProcessUtility.java:186)
at com.abc.network.lifecycle.util.ProcessUtilityTester.main(ProcessUtilityTester.java:19)
Caused by: java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerGet(FutureTask.java:228)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.get(FutureTask.java:91)
at com.abc.network.lifecycle.util.ProcessUtility.executeCommandWithExecutors(ProcessUtility.java:179)
... 1 more
Exit value:-1
5000ms timeout With Sleep:
OUTPUT>TEST COMMAND RAN OK
OUTPUT>TEST COMMAND RAN OK
Exit value:0
5000ms timeout With Worker:
May 1, 2009 1:55:34 AM com.abc.network.lifecycle.util.ProcessUtility executeCommandWithWorker
SEVERE: The command [/tmp/testcmd.sh] timed out.
java.lang.RuntimeException: The command [/tmp/testcmd.sh] timed out.
at com.abc.network.lifecycle.util.ProcessUtility.executeCommandWithWorker(ProcessUtility.java:338)
at com.abc.network.lifecycle.util.ProcessUtilityTester.main(ProcessUtilityTester.java:47)
Exit value:-1
15000ms timeout With Executors:
OUTPUT>TEST COMMAND RAN OK
OUTPUT>TEST COMMAND RAN OK
Exit value:0
15000ms timeout With Sleep:
OUTPUT>TEST COMMAND RAN OK
Exit value:0
15000ms timeout With Worker:
OUTPUT>TEST COMMAND RAN OK
Exit value:0
So from what I can tell the approach using a Worker thread class works the best, in that it gives the expected results in both cases. The approach using Executors works as expected as well, with the caveat that it appears to be running the command twice in the 15000ms timout case (i.e. I see the output for the command twice). The approach using the sleep() method does not timeout the command as expected in the 5000ms timeout case, and displays the output twice, but runs the command as expected in the 15000ms timeout case.

For everybody using the executor framework: you are all forgetting to shutdown the executor. So change it to the following:
ExecutorService service = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor();
try {
Future<Integer> ft = service.submit(call);
try {
int exitVal = ft.get(2000L, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
return exitVal;
} catch (TimeoutException to) {
p.destroy();
throw to;
}
}
finally {
service.shutdown();
}
If you don't your program will keep an active non-daemon thread, ensuring your program will never exit until you call System.exit

For those who can't use the new Java 8 method waitFor(long timeout, TimeUnit unit) (because they are on Android or simply can't upgrade) you can simply rip it from the JDK source code and add it somewhere in your utils file :
public boolean waitFor(long timeout, TimeUnit unit, final Process process)
throws InterruptedException
{
long startTime = System.nanoTime();
long rem = unit.toNanos(timeout);
do {
try {
process.exitValue();
return true;
} catch(IllegalThreadStateException ex) {
if (rem > 0)
Thread.sleep(
Math.min(TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS.toMillis(rem) + 1, 100));
}
rem = unit.toNanos(timeout) - (System.nanoTime() - startTime);
} while (rem > 0);
return false;
}
The only change I've made to the original one from JDK8 source code is the addition of the Process parameter so that we can call the exitValue method from the process.
The exitValue method will directly try to return or throw an IllegalThreadStateException if the process has not yet terminated. In that case, we wait the received timeout and terminate.
The method return a boolean, so if it return false then you know you need to manually kill the process.
This way seems simplier than anything posted above (expect the direct call to waitFor for sure).

A light-weight solution for small apps:
public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) throws java.io.IOException, InterruptedException {
Process process = new ProcessBuilder().command("sleep", "10").start();
int i=0;
boolean deadYet = false;
do {
Thread.sleep(1000);
try {
process.exitValue();
deadYet = true;
} catch (IllegalThreadStateException e) {
System.out.println("Not done yet...");
if (++i >= 5) throw new RuntimeException("timeout");
}
} while (!deadYet);
}
}

Implement as a delegate and fail the call if it takes above your threshold to complete.

Try using a Timer (or Sleep()), in a separate thread or in your event queue if you have one available.

There are various ways to do this, but I'd consider using an Executor-- it just helps you encapsulate passing the exit value or exception from the thread back to the original caller.
final Process p = ...
Callable<Integer> call = new Callable<Integer>() {
public Integer call() throws Exception {
p.waitFor();
return p.exitValue();
}
};
Future<Integer> ft = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor().submit(call);
try {
int exitVal = ft.get(2000L, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
return exitVal;
} catch (TimeoutException to) {
p.destroy();
throw to;
}
I think you can't get round the race condition whereby the wait times out, and then process terminates just before you call destroy().

I also tested the worker implementation and works like a charm. Under handling process io, I added threads to handle stde and stdo. If the worker thread times out I also exit the io threads.
Process p = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmd.trim());
//setup error and output stream threads
CommandStreamThread eStream = new CommandStreamThread(p.getErrorStream(), "STDE");
CommandStreamThread oStream = new CommandStreamThread(p.getInputStream(), "STDO");
// kick them off
eStream.start();
oStream.start();
//setup a worker thread so we can time it out when we need
CommandWorkerThread worker=new CommandWorkerThread(p);
worker.start();
try {
worker.join(this.getTimeout());
if (worker.getExit() != null)
return worker.getExit();
else
throw new TimeoutException("Timeout reached:"+this.getTimeout()+" ms");
} catch(InterruptedException ex) {
eStream.interrupt();
oStream.interrupt();
worker.interrupt();
Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
throw ex;
} finally {
p.destroy();
}

First some background info, I came across the issue to have a timeout while running a command because the program that I tried to execute would never print any debug or error information incase of error and would just keep on retrying internally by itself resulting in process stuck because there was never an error or output stream when it was retrying.
So after process.exec() or process.start() ,
It would be stuck forever at this line,
BufferedReader input = new BufferedReader(newInputStreamReader(process.getInputStream()));
As per java 1.8 with public boolean waitFor(long timeout,TimeUnit unit) method it should have "ideally" timed out after the specified timeout but in my case for some reason it never timed out may be because I was running application as a windows service (I have checked the user permissions and everything on the account but it didn't help).
So I tried to implement it with the below logic, where we would keep checking the input stream with input.ready() and a timeout flag.This simple solution worked like a charm compared to all other that existed.
Code:
public boolean runCommand() throws IOException, InterruptedException, Exception {
StringBuilder rawResponse = new StringBuilder();
System.out.println("Running Command " + Arrays.toString(command));
ProcessBuilder processBuilder = new ProcessBuilder(Arrays.asList(command));
processBuilder.redirectErrorStream(true);
Process process = processBuilder.start(); //Executing the process
BufferedReader input = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(process.getInputStream()));
waitForTimeout(input, process); //Waiting for Timout
String line;
while ((line = input.readLine()) != null) {
rawResponse.append(line).append("\n");
}
return true;
}
//Timeout method
private void waitForTimeout(BufferedReader input, Process process) throws InterruptedException, Exception {
int timeout = 5;
while (timeout > 0) {
if (!process.isAlive() || input.ready()) {
break;
} else {
timeout--;
Thread.sleep(1000);
if (timeout == 0 && !input.ready()) {
destroyProcess(process);
throw new Exception("Timeout in executing the command "+Arrays.toString(command));
}
}
}
}

You can launch a Thread that sleeps for the time you want and after the sleep changing a boolean that you loop on in your executeCommandLine method.
Something like that (not tested nor compiled, this solution is a prototype you should refactor it if it suit you needs):
public static int executeCommandLine(final String commandLine,
final boolean printOutput,
final boolean printError)
throws IOException, InterruptedException
{
Runtime runtime = Runtime.getRuntime();
Process process = runtime.exec(commandLine);
if (printOutput)
{
BufferedReader outputReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(process.getInputStream()));
System.out.println("Output: " + outputReader.readLine());
}
if (printError)
{
BufferedReader errorReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(process.getErrorStream()));
System.out.println("Error: " + errorReader.readLine());
}
ret = -1;
final[] b = {true};
new Thread(){
public void run(){
Thread.sleep(2000); //to adapt
b[0] = false;
}
}.start();
while(b[0])
{
ret = process.waitFor();
}
return ret;
}

and here is the StreamThread
public class CommandStreamThread extends Thread{
private InputStream iStream;
private String cPrompt;
CommandStreamThread (InputStream is, String cPrompt)
{
this.iStream = is;
this.cPrompt = cPrompt;
}
public void run()
{
try
{
InputStreamReader streamReader= new InputStreamReader(this.iStream);
BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(streamReader);
String linesep=System.getProperty("line.separator");
String line=null;
while ((line=reader.readLine())!=null){
System.out.println(line);
//Process the next line seperately in case this is EOF is not preceded by EOL
int in;
char[] buffer=new char[linesep.length()];
while ( (in = reader.read(buffer)) != -1){
String bufferValue=String.valueOf(buffer, 0, in);
System.out.print(bufferValue);
if (bufferValue.equalsIgnoreCase(linesep))
break;
}
}
//Or the easy way out with commons utils!
//IOUtils.copy(this.iStream, System.out);
} catch (Exception e){
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
public InputStream getIStream() {
return iStream;
}
public void setIStream(InputStream stream) {
iStream = stream;
}
public String getCPrompt() {
return cPrompt;
}
public void setCPrompt(String prompt) {
cPrompt = prompt;
}
}

Apache Commons Exec can help you to do it.
See http://commons.apache.org/proper/commons-exec/tutorial.html
String line = "your command line";
CommandLine cmdLine = CommandLine.parse(line);
DefaultExecutor executor = new DefaultExecutor();
ExecuteWatchdog watchdog = new ExecuteWatchdog(60000);
executor.setWatchdog(watchdog);
ByteArrayOutputStream outputStream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
PumpStreamHandler streamHandler = new PumpStreamHandler(outputStream);
executor.setStreamHandler(streamHandler);
int exitValue = executor.execute(cmdLine);
System.out.println(exitValue);
System.out.println(outputStream.toString());

If using Java 8 I'd go with Aleksander Blomskøld answer i.e. p.waitFor(1, TimeUnit.MINUTE)
else if Java 6/7 and using Swing, then you can use a SwingWorker:
final Process process = ...
SwingWorker<Integer, Integer> sw = new SwingWorker<>() {
#Override
protected Integer doInBackground() throws Exception {
process.waitFor();
return process.exitValue();
}
};
sw.execute();
int exitValue = sw.get(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
if (exitValue == 0) {
//everything was fine
} else {
//process exited with issues
}

I know this is really old post; i needed some help with a similar project so I thought I might give some of my code that I worked and ones that work.
long current = System.currentTimeMillis();
ProcessBuilder pb = new ProcessBuilder(arguments);
try{
pb.redirectErrorStream(true);
process = pb.start();
int c ;
while((c = process.getInputStream().read()) != -1 )
if(System.currentTimeMillis() - current < timeOutMilli)
result += (char)c;
else throw new Exception();
return result.trim();
}catch(Exception e){
e.printStackTrace();
}
return result;
Hope this helps the future :D

Related

ProcessBuilder in java not executing the 'java -jar' command

I am trying to execute the windows' commands(which we can execute through command prompt), through java code, using processbuilder, and get response. My program works fine for commands like 'dir', but doesnt work for 'java -jar'. When I give 'java -jar C:\mypath\filename.jar' it is waiting for ever and even not getting any input from the stream. Can you please help on this.
Note: It is working fine if we do that through command prompt.
public byte[] execute(String command) {
ProcessBuilder builder = new ProcessBuilder();
LOG.info("Executing the command {} ...", command);
builder.command("cmd.exe", "/c", command);
builder.redirectErrorStream(true);
try {
Process process = builder.start();
StringBuffer outStringBuffer = new StringBuffer();
StreamGobbler streamGobbler = new StreamGobbler(process.getInputStream(), x -> {
outStringBuffer.append(x).append("\n");
});
Future<?> future = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor().submit(streamGobbler);
future.get(120, TimeUnit.SECONDS);//Waiting for 120 seconds and throwing error with null.
int exitCode = process.waitFor();// If we skip prev step, waiting for ever for this process.
System.out.println("ExitCode:"+exitCode);
// assert exitCode == 0;
if (exitCode == 0) {
LOG.info("Command \'{}\' executed. And response:{}", command, outStringBuffer.toString());
return outStringBuffer.toString().getBytes();
} else {
LOG.error("Command \'{}\' executed. And process exited with exitCode:{}. Response stored:{}.", command,
exitCode, outStringBuffer.toString());
return ("Process exited with exitCode" + exitCode).getBytes();
}
} catch (IOException | InterruptedException | ExecutionException | TimeoutException e) {
LOG.error("Error in execution of command:{}. Details of error:{}.{}", command, e.getMessage(), e);
return ("Error in execution of command:" + command + ". Details of error:" + e.getMessage() + "." + e)
.getBytes();
}
}
public class StreamGobbler implements Runnable {
private InputStream inputStream;
private Consumer<String> consumer;
public StreamGobbler(InputStream inputStream, Consumer<String> consumer) {
this.inputStream = inputStream;
this.consumer = consumer;
}
#Override
public void run() {
new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(inputStream)).lines().forEach(consumer);
}
}
Realized, it is mistake with handling the Future and process if the subprocess is taking too long to finish. Updated the code to handle.
try {
future.get(120, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
} catch (TimeoutException e) {
readerTimedOut = true;
LOG.info("The Reader for the process did not complete till timeout seconds:{}", 120);
}
int processTimeOutSeconds = 40;
if (readerTimedOut) {
processTimeOutSeconds = 0;
}
boolean isProcessTerminated = process.waitFor(processTimeOutSeconds, TimeUnit.SECONDS);

communication between a parent process and a child process

I have a class that acts as a parent process. During its run, it creates many child process and runs them simultaneously. Each child process is basically an HTTP client that connects to a service and pulls data from it.
Currently, if one of the child processes stop working from any reason, the parent process re-establishing the connection by restarting that same child process.
The disconnection of the child process may be caused by several thing. I would like to communicate the reason for disconnection from the child process to the parent process and have the parent process act accordingly based on the reason of disconnection (socket read fail, 404 not found, 401 unauthorized etc.).
Is it possible? What would be the shortest/best way to do it?
Here is my Parent class:
public class Parent {
public static void main(String[] args){
List<Process> PRlist = new ArrayList<Process>();
List<String[]> commandsList = new ArrayList<String[]>();
DateTimeFormatter frmt = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("hh:mm:ss");
if (args.length == 2 && args[0].matches("-f")){
String dir = System.getProperty("user.dir");
String path = dir + "/" + args[1];
try {
FileReader fr = new FileReader(path);
BufferedReader bf = new BufferedReader(fr);
String line = "";
while ((line = bf.readLine()) != null){
String[] tk = line.split(" ");
String[] cmd = {"java", "-jar", "Child.jar", "-a", tk[0], "-p", tk[1],
"-u", tk[2], "-pw", tk[3], "-m", tk[4], "-s", tk[5]};
Process pr = new ProcessBuilder().inheritIO().command(cmd).redirectInput(Redirect.INHERIT).start();
PRlist.add(pr); commandsList.add(cmd);
}
}
catch (FileNotFoundException ex) {ex.printStackTrace();}
catch (IOException ex) {ex.printStackTrace();}
int streamnum = PRlist.size();
while (true){
for (int i = 0; i < streamnum; i++){
if (!PRlist.get(i).isAlive()){
PRlist.get(i).destroy();
PRlist.remove(i);
try {
Process PR = new ProcessBuilder().inheritIO().command(commandsList.get(i)).redirectInput(Redirect.INHERIT).start();
System.out.println(commandsList.get(i)[12] + " stream re-established at " + LocalDateTime.now().format(frmt));
PRlist.add(i,PR);
} catch (IOException ex) {ex.printStackTrace();}
}
}
try {
Thread.sleep(5000);
} catch (InterruptedException ex) {ex.printStackTrace();}
}
} else {
System.out.println("No stream file was specified.");
}
}}
Any help would be appreciated.
As example
Someting like
if (!PRlist.get(i).isAlive()){
int exitCode=PRlist.get(i).exitValue();
//Do something with exitValue
PRlist.get(i).destroy();
PRlist.get(i).destroy();
PRlist.remove(i);
try {
Process PR = new ProcessBuilder().inheritIO().command(commandsList.get(i)).redirectInput(Redirect.INHERIT).start();
System.out.println(commandsList.get(i)[12] + " stream re-established at " + LocalDateTime.now().format(frmt));
PRlist.add(i,PR);
} catch (IOException ex) {ex.printStackTrace();}
}
Examples with errorStream may be more complex, but the idea is looking at the exception being posted in errorStream via text processing.
Maybe you can work with the methods
**public ProcessBuilder.Redirect redirectError()**
Returns this process builder's standard error destination. Subprocesses subsequently started by this object's start() method redirect their standard error to this destination. The initial value is Redirect.PIPE.
Returns:
this process builder's standard error destination
Or
public abstract int exitValue()
Returns the exit value for the subprocess.
Returns:
the exit value of the subprocess represented by this Process object. By convention, the value 0 indicates normal termination.
Throws:
IllegalThreadStateException - if the subprocess represented by this Process object has not yet terminated
OK, with Java Threads you would do it like this:
class MyThreadedApp {
// main() here
/**
* Starting a new thread
*/
private void start() {
new Thread(() -> {
try {
new Worker().run();
} catch (Exception ex) {
threadEnded(ex);
}
}).start();
}
/**
* Handle errors
*
* #param ex Error
*/
private void threadEnded(Exception ex) {
System.out.println(ex.getMessage());
}
}
/**
* My worker thread
*/
class Worker {
void run() throws IOException {
// Do my stuff here
}
}
That's a basic example just to demonstrate the data flow. In practice you could have some use of technologies #lscoughlin mentioned.

processbuilder monitor log file in remote server

I am trying to:
Execute Bash script
Read log file
I have following code using processBuilder which has readLog function that reads log file and executeBash which executes the command and then destroys processbuilder's readlog process. But as readLog file is reading a live log file executeBash never gets called.
How do I read the log file in real time and display it simultaneously with executeBash?
public void performAction(OssSystem system) {
readLog(system);
executeBash(system);
}
public void executeBash(OssSystem system) {
try {
Process process = new ProcessBuilder().command("/bin/sh", system.getCommand_path(), system.getParam()).start();
BufferedReader reader
= new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(process.getInputStream()));
StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
String line = null;
while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
builder.append(line);
builder.append(System.getProperty("line.separator"));
}
int status = process.waitFor();
cmdResult = builder.toString() + " command status " + status;
int exitValue = process.exitValue();
readProcess.destroy();
} catch (IOException ex) {
LOG.log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
} catch (InterruptedException ex) {
LOG.log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
}
}
String logOutput;
Process readProcess;
public void readLog(OssSystem system) {
String user = system.getUsername() + "#" + system.getIp();
String cmd = "tail -f " + system.getLog_dir() + " | less";
try {
readProcess = new ProcessBuilder().command("/usr/bin/ssh", user, cmd).start();
int status = readProcess.waitFor();
BufferedReader reader
= new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(readProcess.getInputStream()));
StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
String line = null;
while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
builder.append(line);
builder.append(System.getProperty("line.separator"));
}
logOutput = builder.toString() + " command status " + status;
} catch (IOException ex) {
Logger.getLogger(Shell.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
} catch (InterruptedException ex) {
Logger.getLogger(Shell.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
}
}
According to javadoc,
Causes the current thread to wait, if necessary, until the process
represented by this Process object has terminated. This method returns
immediately if the subprocess has already terminated. If the
subprocess has not yet terminated, the calling thread will be blocked
until the subprocess exits.
So the readProcess.waitFor(); will block the main thread and you can never expect executeBash(system); to be called before readProcess has terminated.
You can start a thread to launch readProcess.
public void performAction(OssSystem system) {
readLog(system);
ExecuteBashThread thread = new ExecuteBashThread(system);
thread.start();
}
class ExecuteBashThread extends Thread{
private OssSystem system;
public ExecuteBashThread(OssSystem system){
this.system = system;
}
#Override
public void run(){
executeBash(system);
}
}

Java process exitValue bug

I am getting "0" value while calling exitValue() for java process object in linux but occasionally child threads (error & output stream readers) are not completed and getting stuck in join. Shouldn't "0" value of exitValue() of process guarantee that all sub processes terminated successfully?
private class ReadStdoutThread extends Thread {
private Process m_prc;
private StringBuffer m_sb;
public ReadStdoutThread(Process prc, StringBuffer sb) {
m_prc = prc;
m_sb = sb;
}
public void run() {
BufferedReader stdout =
new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(m_prc.getInputStream()));
String line = null;
try {
while ((line = stdout.readLine()) != null) {
System.out.println("Stdout: " + line);
m_sb.append(line + "\n");
}
stdout.close();
} catch (IOException e) {
System.out.println(e.toString());
return;
}
}
}
private class ReadStderrThread extends Thread {
private Process m_prc;
private StringBuffer m_sb;
public ReadStderrThread(Process prc, StringBuffer sb) {
m_prc = prc;
m_sb = sb;
}
public void run() {
BufferedReader stderr =
new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(m_prc.getErrorStream()));
String line = null;
try {
while ((line = stderr.readLine()) != null) {
System.out.println("Stderr: " + line);
m_sb.append(line + "\n");
}
stderr.close();
} catch (IOException e) {
System.out.println(e.toString());
return;
}
}
}
public static String runCmd(String cmd, long timeoutMS) throws IOException,
InterruptedException {
Process prc = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmd);
long startTimeMS = System.currentTimeMillis();
boolean isRunning = true;
System.out.println("Command has started.");
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer();
ReadStdoutThread ot = new HostCommand().new ReadStdoutThread(prc, sb);
ReadStderrThread et = new HostCommand().new ReadStderrThread(prc, sb);
ot.start();
et.start();
if (timeoutMS == 0) {
System.out.println("Thread will wait until command is completed.");
prc.waitFor();
} else {
System.out.println("Command timeout (ms): " + timeoutMS);
synchronized (prc) {
int n = -1;
while (isRunning) {
prc.wait(1000);
try {
n = prc.exitValue();
System.out.println("Command has completed with value: " +
n);
m_processExitValue = n;
isRunning = false;
} catch (IllegalThreadStateException e) {
// command is still running
isRunning = true;
}
if ((System.currentTimeMillis() - startTimeMS >
timeoutMS) && isRunning) {
System.out.println("Timeout has reached, and command is still running. Command will be interrupted.");
prc.destroy();
m_processExitValue = n;
isRunning = false;
}
}
}
}
try {
ot.join(timeoutMS);
}
catch(InterruptedException e) {
throw e;
}
try {
et.join(timeoutMS);
}
catch(InterruptedException e) {
throw e;
}
return sb.toString();
}
According to the documentation, the method should return a IllegalThreadStateException if any subprocess is not yet terminated, otherwise it will return 0 which indicates normal termination.
Source: https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/lang/Process.html
There is no guarantee that the ReadStdoutThread and ReadStderrThread have finished execution. There is no sync between Process's waitFor API and the two seperate threads that you have spawned to read the standard input and error streams from the Process. You need to use : ot.join();et.join(); after invoking ot.start();et.start();.Basically, join should be invoked before calling Process.waitFor()

StreamGobbler short output or very quick process

I use StreamGobbler to read output from external program. Before I used to read and parse big(20-40 strings) output from stderr of ffmpeg. Now I want to read and parse only one string from stdout(one string is all output of program and this program ends very quickly) of identify(ImageMagick). And sometimes it works, but sometimes I have error "Stream closed". I think that StreamGobbler has no time to work with stream(process ends before streamGobler do some work).
Below you can see class ExecThread and example of it's usage.
Sorry for my English...
String command = ffmpegExe.getAbsolutePath()+ " -i \""+ fileName +"\"";
ExecThread thread = new ExecThread(command);
thread.setPriority(ExecThread.MIN_PRIORITY);
thread.start();
thread.waitFor(DEFAULT_WAIT);
//reading ffmpeg stderr
BufferedReader ffmpegErr = thread.getErrBufferedReader();
String line;
try
{
while((line = ffmpegErr.readLine()) !=null)
//some code
private static class ExecThread extends Thread
{
public ExecThread(String command)
{
this.command = command;
}
#Override
public void run()
{
try
{
ExecCommand(command);
exitVal = process.waitFor();
}
catch (Exception e )
{
logger.error("Error while executing command: " + command + e.getMessage(),e);
System.err.println("Error");
System.exit(1);
}
}
public void waitFor(long millis)
{
try
{
this.join(millis);
process.destroy();
} catch (Exception e)
{
logger.error("Error while interupting command: " + command + e.getMessage(), e);
}
}
private void ExecCommand(String command) throws IOException
{
//run command
Runtime rt = Runtime.getRuntime();
process = rt.exec(new String[]{shellName,shellOption, command}, null, null);
//get stderr buffered reader
StreamGobbler errGobbler = new StreamGobbler(process.getErrorStream());
StreamGobbler outGobbler = new StreamGobbler(process.getInputStream());
ErrBufferedReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(errGobbler));
OutBufferedReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(outGobbler));
}
private BufferedReader ErrBufferedReader;
public BufferedReader getOutBufferedReader()
{
return OutBufferedReader;
}
private BufferedReader OutBufferedReader;
private Process process;
private String command;
private int exitVal=-1;
public BufferedReader getErrBufferedReader()
{
return ErrBufferedReader;
}
public Process getProcess()
{
return process;
}
public String getCommand()
{
return command;
}
public int getExitVal()
{
return exitVal;
}
}
I'd recommend two changes:
Use the Java Process instead of writing a Thread.
Close your input, output, and error streams and destroy the Process. You'll have file handle leaks if you don't.
This is not good decision but it works. Before it was String command = identifyExe.getAbsolutePath() + " \"" + file.getAbsolutePath() + "\"";
now it String command = "sleep 1 ; " + identifyExe.getAbsolutePath() + " \"" + file.getAbsolutePath() + "\"";
Sleep is very usefull function :-)
But, if you know better decision please tell...

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