How to daemonize a shell task?

Question

How can I run a console command (like cp or tar, for example) without needing to keep an open SSH?

See http://serverfault.com/questions/311593/keeping-a-linux-process-running-after-i-logout/312265#312265 — w00t, Jan 05 '14 at 19:57

score 10 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 16 '10 at 23:37

10

nohup command &

answered Jul 16 '10 at 23:37

Dennis Williamson

62,879

2

You should also make sure to handle the STDIN for the command. Usually </dev/null is all you need. Without this when you exit the ssh connection you will most likely not get the prompt back on the system you initiated the connection from. Banis' -T tip below may clear this up for you too. – Aaron Bush Jul 17 '10 at 01:07

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 17 '10 at 03:24

Depending on exactly what you want to do, screen may work out for you.

You can run the command with screen, screen command then detach that screen and terminate your ssh session. Whatever is running in that screen session will still run, and you can re-attach to that session later, from another terminal.

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 16 '10 at 23:44

2

When running commands remotely with ssh the -T option will also help.

answered Jul 16 '10 at 23:44

Banis

166
3

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 17 '10 at 00:01

1

Since you don't provide a lot of detail, it is also possible that disown will do what you want.

answered Jul 17 '10 at 00:01

Nathan Powell

589

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 17 '10 at 21:19

0

If it is a task you anticipate repeating over and over again, you can create a cron job.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cron

answered Jul 17 '10 at 21:19

Tyler K

256

How to daemonize a shell task?

5 Answers5