Breaking out of a PS command after a certain amount of time? - powershell

Question

I'm looking for an example that can break out of the current command if it runs for longer than say, 1 minutes, which would allow me to re-run it.
Here is my script :
$ServiceName = 'service'
$arrService = Get-Service -Name $ServiceName
while ($arrService.Status -ne 'Running')
{
Start-Service $ServiceName
write-host $arrService.status
write-host 'Service starting'
Start-Sleep -seconds 3
$arrService.Refresh()
if ($arrService.Status -eq 'Running')
{
Write-Host 'Service is now Running'
}
}

Answer 1

Use Start-Job Start-Job cmdlet to run the process. Then define Wait-job
Wait-Job cmdlet with a -timeout. The -timeout defines the time for the wait to end and the command prompt will return.
A point to remember: -timeout don't display any error messages. Keep that in mind while doing error handling.

Answer 2

Could use some polish, but something like below may work:
$ServiceName = 'W32Time'
$arrService = Get-Service -Name $ServiceName
$Interval = 3
$TimeOut = 20
$Count = 0
Start-Service $ServiceName
:SrvCheck While ( $arrService.Status -ne 'Running' )
{
$arrService.Refresh()
if ( $arrService.Status -eq 'Running' )
{
Write-Host 'Service is now Running'
Break SrvCheck
}
if ( $Count -ge $timeout )
{
Write-Host "Timed out wating for service : $ServiceName to start, waited $($Count*$Interval) Seconds..."
Break SrvCheck
}
Write-Host "Waiting for service start, Current Status $($arrService.Status) ... Checks: $Count | Time Elapsed: $($Count*$Interval) ."
Start-Sleep -Seconds $Interval
++$Count
}
Moved the service start up out of the loop, unless it was your intent to reattempt the start after every failed check. Even so you may want to put some error handling around it. I know for example UAC can interfere in a service start request so you may want something there.
So the $TimeOut variable is 20 so each interval being 3 seconds the attempt will time out at 60 seconds.
If you want the check to occur at least once I'd switch this into a Do Until. With While, if the service starts quickly enough you won't see the message 'Service is now running'
Let me know how it goes.