lckdo

runs commands with file locking

TLDR

Run with lock

$ lckdo [/var/lock/mylock] [command]

Wait for lock

$ lckdo -W [lockfile] [command]

Fail if locked

$ lckdo -n [lockfile] [command]

With timeout

$ lckdo -w [10] [lockfile] [command]

SYNOPSIS

lckdo [options] lockfile command

lckdo executes a command while holding an exclusive file lock, ensuring that only one instance of the command runs at a time. This is particularly valuable for cron jobs and scheduled tasks where overlapping executions could cause data corruption or resource contention.The tool acquires an exclusive lock on the specified lock file before running the command, and releases it when the command completes. By default it waits for the lock to become available, but you can use -n to fail immediately if the lock is held, or -w to set a timeout. Note that lckdo is deprecated in favor of `flock`, which provides the same functionality and is available as part of the standard util-linux package.

PARAMETERS

LOCKFILE

Lock file path.

COMMAND

Command to execute.

-n

Non-blocking (fail if locked).

-W

Wait forever for lock.

-w SECONDS

Wait timeout.

--help

Display help information.

INSTALL

sudo apt install moreutils

sudo dnf install moreutils

sudo pacman -S moreutils

sudo apk add moreutils

sudo zypper install moreutils

brew install moreutils

nix profile install nixpkgs#moreutils

CAVEATS

Deprecated in favor of flock. Part of moreutils. Lock file must be writable.

HISTORY

lckdo was part of moreutils for running commands under file locks, now replaced by flock.