{"id":3452,"date":"2017-11-06T16:39:19","date_gmt":"2017-11-07T00:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/?p=3452"},"modified":"2022-05-01T22:43:31","modified_gmt":"2022-05-02T05:43:31","slug":"restart-hung-script","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/alwaysup\/restart-hung-script\/","title":{"rendered":"Q & A: How Do I get AlwaysUp to Restart my Hung Script?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Q<\/div>\n
\n  My company uses AlwaysUp CLT<\/a> to run our script every 5 minutes as a windows service. The script starts running when the PC boots and repeats every 5 minutes throughout the day. It usually takes a few seconds to do its work on each run.<\/p>\n

\nHowever we have a nagging problem. After some hundred or more cycles, the script occasionally gets stuck and never finishes! When this happens, my customers get upset because their kiosks aren’t updated.\n<\/p>\n

\nHow can I get AlwaysUp to kill the script and restart it whenever it hangs?<\/b>\n<\/p>\n

— Dan @ LaptopsAnytime<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\nHi Dan. I’m not sure what your script does, but it is very unlikely that AlwaysUp will be able to tell that the script isn’t working properly. However we can use AlwaysUp’s powerful Sanity Check feature<\/a> to terminate (and restart) your script when it runs for too long.\n<\/p>\n

\nTo setup the sanity check with the AlwaysUp GUI (we’ll cover the CLT later):\n<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    \nCreate a new batch file with a single command: exit 1<\/b><\/p>\n

  2. \n

    \nStart AlwaysUp. Highlight your application and select Application > Edit…<\/b> to summon the “Edit\/View Application” window.\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    \nSwitch to the Monitor<\/b> tab. Check the Whenever it fails a sanity check<\/b> box and click the …<\/b> button:<\/p>\n

  4. \n

    \nIn the “Configure Sanity Check” window that comes up:\n<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. \n

      In the Run<\/b> section, enter the full path to the batch file you created in the first step.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    2. \n

      Using the Every<\/b> controls, specify a time that you consider “too long” for your script to run. Since your script usually takes a few seconds to run, we recommend entering 2 minutes. That should give an unusually long run some extra time to complete, while ensuring that your customers never experience an outage lasting longer than a couple of minutes.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    3. \n

      Also, specify 2 minutes in the Wait for<\/b> setting and check the Also wait whenever the application is restarted<\/b> box. These ensure that your script will have time to complete before performing the first sanity check:<\/p>\n

    4. \n

      \nClick the OK<\/b> button and save your settings in AlwaysUp.\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \nWith the sanity check monitor in place, your script should never hang for longer than two minutes.\n<\/p>\n

      Command line switches for AlwaysUp CLT<\/b><\/h2>\n

      \nTo achieve the setup described above with AlwaysUp CLT<\/a>, specify the following parameters to InstallService:<\/p>\n