How do I make sure my bash script isn't already running?

Question

I have a bash script I want to run every 5 minutes from cron... but there\'s a chance the previous run of the script isn\'t done yet... in this case, i want the new run to j

Answer 1

You can use this.

I'll just shamelessly copy-paste the solution here, as it is an answer for both questions (I would argue that it's actually a better fit for this question).

Usage

1. include sh_lock_functions.sh
2. init using sh_lock_init
3. lock using sh_acquire_lock
4. check lock using sh_check_lock
5. unlock using sh_remove_lock

Script File

sh_lock_functions.sh

#!/bin/bash

function sh_lock_init {
    sh_lock_scriptName=$(basename $0)
    sh_lock_dir="/tmp/${sh_lock_scriptName}.lock" #lock directory
    sh_lock_file="${sh_lock_dir}/lockPid.txt" #lock file
}

function sh_acquire_lock {
    if mkdir $sh_lock_dir 2>/dev/null; then #check for lock
        echo "$sh_lock_scriptName lock acquired successfully.">&2
        touch $sh_lock_file
        echo $$ > $sh_lock_file # set current pid in lockFile
        return 0
    else
        touch $sh_lock_file
        read sh_lock_lastPID < $sh_lock_file
        if [ ! -z "$sh_lock_lastPID" -a -d /proc/$sh_lock_lastPID ]; then # if lastPID is not null and a process with that pid exists
            echo "$sh_lock_scriptName is already running.">&2
            return 1
        else
            echo "$sh_lock_scriptName stopped during execution, reacquiring lock.">&2
            echo $$ > $sh_lock_file # set current pid in lockFile
            return 2
        fi
    fi
    return 0
}

function sh_check_lock {
    [[ ! -f $sh_lock_file ]] && echo "$sh_lock_scriptName lock file removed.">&2 && return 1
    read sh_lock_lastPID < $sh_lock_file
    [[ $sh_lock_lastPID -ne $$ ]] && echo "$sh_lock_scriptName lock file pid has changed.">&2  && return 2
    echo "$sh_lock_scriptName lock still in place.">&2
    return 0
}

function sh_remove_lock {
    rm -r $sh_lock_dir
}

Usage example

sh_lock_usage_example.sh

#!/bin/bash
. /path/to/sh_lock_functions.sh # load sh lock functions

sh_lock_init || exit $?

sh_acquire_lock
lockStatus=$?
[[ $lockStatus -eq 1 ]] && exit $lockStatus
[[ $lockStatus -eq 2 ]] && echo "lock is set, do some resume from crash procedures";

#monitoring example
cnt=0
while sh_check_lock # loop while lock is in place
do
    echo "$sh_scriptName running (pid $$)"
    sleep 1
    let cnt++
    [[ $cnt -gt 5 ]] && break
done

#remove lock when process finished
sh_remove_lock || exit $?

exit 0

Features

• Uses a combination of file, directory and process id to lock to make sure that the process is not already running
• You can detect if the script stopped before lock removal (eg. process kill, shutdown, error etc.)
• You can check the lock file, and use it to trigger a process shutdown when the lock is missing
• Verbose, outputs error messages for easier debug