Killing a process created with Python's subprocess.Popen()

python popen
user495511 picture user495511 · Nov 3, 2010 · Viewed 129.9k times · Source

Here is my thought:

First of all, I created a process by using subprocess.Popen

Second, after certain amount of time, I tried to kill it by Popen.kill()

import subprocess
import os, signal
import time

proc1 = subprocess.Popen("kvm -hda /path/xp.img", shell = True)
time.sleep(2.0)
print 'proc1 = ', proc1.pid
subprocess.Popen.kill(proc1)

However, "proc1" still exists after Popen.kill(). Could any experts tell me how to solve this issue? I appreciate your considerations.

Thanks to the comments from all experts, I did all you recommended, but result still remains the same.

proc1.kill() #it sill cannot kill the proc1

os.kill(proc1.pid, signal.SIGKILL) # either cannot kill the proc1

Thank you all the same.

And I am still waiting for your precious experience on solving this delicate issue.

Answer

pyfunc picture pyfunc · Nov 3, 2010

In your code it should be 

proc1.kill()

Both kill or terminate are methods of the Popen object which sends the signal signal.SIGKILL to the process.

Related questions

How to use subprocess popen Python

Since os.popen is being replaced by subprocess.popen, I was wondering how would I convert os.popen('swfdump /tmp/filename.swf/ -d') to subprocess.popen() I tried: subprocess.Popen("swfdump /tmp/filename.swf -d") subprocess.Popen("swfdump %s -d" % (…

Read More
Python subprocess/Popen with a modified environment

I believe that running an external command with a slightly modified environment is a very common case. That's how I tend to do it: import subprocess, os my_env = os.environ my_env["PATH"] = "/usr/sbin:/sbin:" + my_env["PATH"] …

Read More
How can I specify working directory for popen

Is there a way to specify the running directory of command in Python's subprocess.Popen()? For example: Popen('c:\mytool\tool.exe', workingdir='d:\test\local') My Python script is located in C:\programs\python Is is possible to run …

Read More