The Tool Desk
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Why an SSH process dies when you disconnect
SSH gives you a remote terminal, but the terminal is attached to a login shell on the server. When the SSH connection ends normally, or is interrupted, that shell can receive a hangup condition and send SIGHUP to child processes. Most ordinary foreground commands exit when they receive it. A command can therefore appear healthy while you are connected and disappear as soon as you close the terminal window, type exit, or lose the network path.
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The solution is to change how the command is supervised before disconnecting. You either make the command ignore SIGHUP, remove it from the shell’s job table, place it in a session that has its own persistent server, or start it as a unit managed by systemd. Merely putting & at the end of a command is not enough: & backgrounds the job in the current shell but does not, by itself, protect it from the shell’s hangup handling.
Choose the method that matches the job
| Method | Can you reattach and see the session? | Survives SSH logout when configured correctly? | Managed by a service manager? | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
nohup plus & |
No | Yes | No | A one-shot command or script that can run unattended |
disown |
No | Yes | No | A background job you forgot to protect before disconnecting |
tmux |
Yes | Yes | No | Interactive work, visible logs, and later reconnection |
screen |
Yes | Yes | No | Interactive work when screen is the available terminal multiplexer |
systemd-run service unit |
No terminal session to reattach | Yes | Yes | A detached process that should have a named systemd unit and properties |
systemd-run scope unit |
No terminal session to reattach | Yes | Yes | A command run as a child of systemd-run while the caller waits for completion |
The table describes logout behavior, not reboot persistence. The available documentation does not establish whether these approaches survive a server reboot. If a job must return after boot, treat that as a separate service-configuration requirement rather than assuming a transient command will do it.
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Run an unattended command with nohup
nohup starts a command with SIGHUP ignored. It does not put the command in the background automatically, so append & when you want your shell prompt back and plan to disconnect.
Start the command and save its output
- Change to the directory that contains the script or use an absolute path.
- Redirect standard output and standard error to a file you can inspect later.
- Put
&at the end so the shell backgrounds the protected command.
nohup ./backup.sh > backup.log 2>&1 &This command tells nohup to run ./backup.sh, writes normal output to backup.log, sends error output to the same file, and backgrounds the process. The shell may print a job number and process ID; keep the process ID if you need to check it later.
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What happens if you omit redirection
If standard output is still connected to a terminal, nohup redirects it to a file named nohup.out. If it cannot create that file in the current directory, it uses $HOME/nohup.out. Explicit redirection is safer because it gives the log a predictable name and also handles standard error with 2>&1.
Understand the limit of nohup
nohup changes SIGHUP handling; it is not a complete daemonization system. It does not provide a terminal you can reattach to, a service unit, restart policy, or a supervisor that reports status. A program can still stop because of its own error, a missing file, an exhausted resource, or another signal. Check the command’s log and its exit behavior instead of treating a returned shell prompt as proof that the work finished.
Use nohup when you do not need to watch the process
This method is appropriate for exports, backups, archive creation, compilation, and similar jobs that can run without interactive input. It is a poor fit for a program that expects you to answer prompts or inspect a live terminal; use tmux or screen for those.
Protect a job that is already running with disown
disown is useful when a command is already running in the shell and you realize you must disconnect. It removes the job from the shell’s job table, so the shell stops managing it. In the commonly reported Bash usage, disown -h %1 keeps job 1 in the table while preventing the shell from sending it SIGHUP.
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Stop, background, and detach the current job
- Press
Ctrl-Zto suspend the foreground command. - Run
bgto continue it in the background. - Run
jobsand identify the job number, such as%1. - Run
disown -h %1, replacing%1with the correct job specification.
^Z
bg
jobs
disown -h %1After the last command, the shell no longer treats that job as a process it must hang up. The exact options and job-control behavior can vary by shell, so check the disown entry in the target shell’s manual page before relying on a flag in production.
What disown does not do
Disown does not create a new terminal, capture output, or give you a way to reconnect to the command’s screen. If the process was writing to the SSH terminal, its output may no longer have a useful destination after you disconnect. For a long-running job, redirect output before detaching when possible, or start future work with nohup or a multiplexer.
When disown is the quickest rescue
Use it when a long command is already in the background and you have not yet closed the SSH session. It is faster than restarting the command, but it has more caveats than starting inside tmux or using a service unit: you must identify the right job, ensure it is actually running in the background, and account for its existing terminal input and output.
Keep an interactive session with tmux
tmux separates a persistent server-side session from the SSH client that displays it. If the network connection disappears, the tmux session can remain on the host. When you connect again, attach to that session and continue viewing the command. This is the most flexible choice when you need to watch progress, answer prompts, or inspect a live program later.
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tmux new -s backupRun the command inside the tmux window. For example:
./backup.shDetach without stopping the command
Press the tmux prefix, normally Ctrl-B, then press D. The command continues in the tmux server while your SSH shell returns. You can now close SSH.
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Reconnect later
tmux attachThe attach command reconnects your terminal to the existing tmux session. Because tmux keeps a server and client as separate processes communicating through a socket, losing the client does not inherently destroy the session.
Use tmux for work that needs a terminal
- Interactive installers or database consoles that may ask questions.
- Builds and migrations whose live output you want to inspect.
- Debugging sessions where you need the exact terminal state later.
- Commands that would be awkward to monitor through a redirected log alone.
Start tmux before launching the command. If you start a normal foreground process first and then lose SSH, tmux cannot retroactively capture the old terminal.
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screen provides the same essential pattern: create a persistent terminal session, run the command inside it, detach, and reconnect after opening a new SSH connection. It is another appropriate choice for interactive jobs. The important property is the persistent session, not the particular multiplexer name.
- Start a screen session on the server.
- Launch the command inside that session.
- Use screen’s detach key sequence before closing SSH.
- After reconnecting, use screen’s reattach command to return to the session.
Because key bindings and session-selection commands can differ with the installed version, consult the local screen manual or its on-screen help for the exact detach and reattach keystrokes.
Launch a service-managed process with systemd-run
systemd-run creates a transient systemd unit for a command. This moves responsibility away from the SSH shell and into the service manager. You can assign a unit name with --unit= and pass systemd properties with --property=.
Start a detached service unit
systemd-run --unit=backup-job ./backup.shA service unit runs under the service manager and starts asynchronously by default, so the SSH shell can return while the command continues. A chosen unit name makes the job easier to identify with the systemd tools available on that host.
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Set unit properties
systemd-run --unit=backup-job --property=PROPERTY=VALUE ./backup.shReplace PROPERTY=VALUE with a property supported by the systemd installation and your permissions. Properties let an administrator express service-level constraints and behavior instead of relying only on shell syntax. Verify the exact property and authorization requirements in the local systemd-run manual.
Run a scope and wait for completion
systemd-run --scope ./backup.shA scope unit runs the command as a child of systemd-run and waits for that command to finish. Choose a scope when the caller should remain attached to the command’s lifetime while still placing it in a systemd-managed scope. Choose the default service form when you want a detached, asynchronous start.
When systemd-run is the right abstraction
- You want a named unit rather than an anonymous shell job.
- You need systemd properties applied to the process.
- You are operating on a host where systemd is available and your account is allowed to create the requested unit.
- You want service-manager visibility instead of a terminal multiplexer.
A transient unit is not the same thing as a permanently installed service definition. The available documentation does not establish reboot persistence for these commands, so do not infer that a transient unit will automatically return after a restart.
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The command dies immediately after logout
- You used only
&. Backgrounding changes shell scheduling but does not protect against SIGHUP. Restart it withnohup, put it in tmux or screen, or use a systemd-run service. - You ran
nohupwithout&. The command may still be protected, but your shell remains occupied until it finishes. If you need to disconnect immediately, start it in the background. - You detached the wrong job. Run
jobsbeforedisown -h %1and confirm the job number. - The program failed for another reason. SIGHUP protection does not prevent application errors, missing paths, permission failures, or resource exhaustion. Read the explicit log or
nohup.out.
You cannot find the output
Check the path you supplied after >. If you supplied none and the command’s output was connected to a terminal, inspect nohup.out in the current directory, or $HOME/nohup.out if the first location was not writable. A tmux or screen job keeps terminal output in its session instead of writing a nohup file.
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You need to see a job again
nohup and disown do not provide reattachment. If visibility matters, use tmux or screen from the start. A systemd-run service is identified as a unit rather than as a terminal session; use the host’s systemd inspection tools to examine that unit.
The command expects keyboard input
An unattended nohup or disowned process is risky when the program may stop waiting for input from a terminal. Run interactive work inside tmux or screen, where you can reconnect and supply the required input.
You closed SSH before protecting the process
If the session is already gone, there is no reliable way to apply disown afterward. Reconnect and check whether the process is still present. If it ended, restart it using tmux, screen, nohup, or systemd-run rather than repeating the same unprotected command.
Practical patterns
One-shot script with a predictable log
nohup /opt/jobs/backup.sh >/var/log/backup-session.log 2>&1 &Use this when the script needs no interaction and a separate log file is sufficient. Confirm that your account can write to the chosen log location before disconnecting.
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Interactive migration you may need to inspect
tmux new -s migrationRun the migration inside the session, detach with Ctrl-B followed by D, disconnect, and later run tmux attach after reconnecting.
Job already running in the background
jobs
disown -h %1Use the actual job number shown by jobs. This is a rescue procedure, not a replacement for planning future interactive work inside tmux or screen.
Named systemd-managed command
systemd-run --unit=data-export ./export.shThe command starts as a service unit under systemd rather than as a child that the SSH shell must keep alive. Add supported --property= assignments when the unit needs explicit systemd settings.
Quick Recap
A decision checklist before you disconnect
- Need to reconnect to the same screen? Start tmux or screen first.
- Need only an unattended command and a log? Use
nohup command > log 2>&1 &. - Already have a background job? Verify it with
jobs, then usedisown -hwith the correct job specification. - Need a named, service-manager-controlled unit? Use
systemd-run --unit=...and add supported properties as required. - Need the caller to wait while systemd tracks the process? Use a scope with
systemd-run --scope. - Could the job require input? Do not leave it as a blind nohup job; use a reattachable terminal.
- Must it return after a reboot? None of the logout techniques described here establishes that guarantee; configure and test a boot-time service separately.
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