Basically, i have a program that calls a program on a remote host via SSH in the background. In the command similar to the following:
ssh <remote-host-ip> <remote-program> &

But the problem is, this program stays infinitely in the background. Is there any method of implementation so that I can kill it? like after 10 seconds of trying?

I am trying to refrain from using TCPKeepAlive or sshd_config stuffs configurations. I was thinking of a fork() implementation where the parent sleeps for 10 seconds and then, if the child still haven responds to it, kill it.

Any better approaches?

Thanks
aaron

Do you have an exit statement at the end of the remote program?

[Accidental double post]

Yes I do have.

But you see, the problem is in the event that there is a sudden lost in network connectivity. The SSH request just get left hanging there.. becuase it can't seem to communicate with the remote program.



Thanks

I haven't tried it, but have you thought about using ServerAliveInterval as an option at call time? Something like:

You don't mention if you tried TCPKeepAlive as a call option or config.