Stop execution of python script when parent Bash shell script is killed

Question

I'm working on a Bash shell script that runs several Python scripts like so:

cd ${SCRIPT_PATH}
python -u ${SCRIPT_NAME} ${SCRIPT_ARGS} >> $JOBLOG 2>&1

At one point, I killed the shell script (using kill PID), but the Python script continued running, even after the script terminated. I thought these would die as soon as the main script died. What am I misunderstanding about Bash scripting, and what can I do to get the functionality I'm looking for? Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Children should be sent SIGHUP when the parent process dies - however:

a) The child process can ignore SIGHUP, or handle it a non-fatal manner.

b) The Child could disassociate itself from the parent process by fork() and becoming a process group leader.

You could just exec the python code, so that the shell is replaced with the python.

Answer 2

You need to install a signal handler to take care of your child processes:

trap "echo killing childs; pkill -P $$"  EXIT