Java Process.waitFor() and Readline hangs

Question

First, this is my code :

import java.io.*;
import java.util.Date;

import com.banctecmtl.ca.vlp.shared.exceptions.*;

public class PowershellTest implements Runnable {

public static final String PATH_TO_SCRIPT = "C:\\Scripts\\ScriptTest.ps1";
public static final String SERVER_IP = "XX.XX.XX.XXX";
public static final String MACHINE_TO_MOD = "MachineTest";

/**
 * @param args
 * @throws OperationException 
 */
public static void main(String[] args) throws OperationException {

    new PowershellTest().run();

}

public PowershellTest(){}

@Override
public synchronized void run() {
    String input = "";
    String error = "";

    boolean isHanging = false;

    try {

        Runtime runtime = Runtime.getRuntime();
        Process proc = runtime.exec("powershell -file " + PATH_TO_SCRIPT +" "+ SERVER_IP +" "+ MACHINE_TO_MOD);
        proc.getOutputStream().close();
        InputStream inputstream = proc.getInputStream();
        InputStreamReader inputstreamreader = new InputStreamReader(inputstream);
        BufferedReader bufferedreader = new BufferedReader(inputstreamreader);

        proc.waitFor();

        String line;
        while (!isHanging && (line = bufferedreader.readLine()) != null) {
            input += (line + "\n");
            Date date = new Date();
            while(!bufferedreader.ready()){

                this.wait(1000);
                //if its been more then 1 minute since a line has been read, its hanging. 
                if(new Date().getTime() - date.getTime() >= 60000){

                    isHanging = true;
                    break;

                }
            }
        }

        inputstream.close();
        inputstream = proc.getErrorStream();
        inputstreamreader = new InputStreamReader(inputstream);
        bufferedreader = new BufferedReader(inputstreamreader);
        isHanging = false;

        while (!isHanging && (line = bufferedreader.readLine()) != null) {
            error += (line + "\n");
            Date date = new Date();
            while(!bufferedreader.ready()){

                this.wait(1000);
                //if its been more then 1 minute since a line has been read, its hanging. 
                if(new Date().getTime() - date.getTime() >= 60000){

                    isHanging = true;
                    break;

                }
            }
        }
        inputstream.close();

        proc.destroy();

    } catch (IOException e) {
        //throw new OperationException("File IO problem.", e);
    } catch (InterruptedException e) {
        //throw new OperationException("Script thread problem.",e);
    }
    System.out.println("Error : " + error + "\nInput : " + input);
}

}

I'm currently trying to run a powershell script that will start/stop a vm (VMWARE) on a remote server. The script work from command line and so does this code. The thing is, I hate how I have to use a thread (and make it wait for the script to respond, as explained further) for such a job. I had to do it because both BufferedReader.readline() and proc.waitFor() hang forever.

The script, when ran from cmd, is long to execute. it stall for 30 sec to 1 min from validating authentification with the server and executing the actual script. From what I saw from debugging, the readline hang when it start receiving those delays from the script.

I'm also pretty sure it's not a memory problem since I never had any OOM error in any debugging session.

Now I understand that Process.waitFor() requires me to flush the buffer from both the error stream and the regular stream to work and so that's mainly why I don't use it (I need the output to manage VM specific errors, certificates issues, etc.).

I would like to know if someone could explain to me why it hangs and if there is a way to just use the typical readline() without having it to hang so hard. Even if the script should have ended since a while, it still hang (I tried to run both the java application and a cmd command using the exact same thing I use in the java application at the same time, left it runingfor 1h, nothing worked). It is not just stuck in the while loop, the readline() is where the hanging is.

Also this is a test version, nowhere close to the final code, so please spare me the : this should be a constant, this is useless, etc. I will clean the code later. Also the IP is not XX.XX.XX.XXX in my code, obviously.

Either explanation or suggestion on how to fix would be greatly appreciated.

Ho btw here is the script I currently use :

Add-PSSnapin vmware.vimautomation.core

Connect-VIServer -server $args[0]

Start-VM -VM "MachineTest"

If you need more details I will try to give as much as I can.

Thanks in advance for your help!

EDIT : I also previously tested the code with a less demanding script, which job was to get the content of a file and print it. Since no waiting was needed to get the information, the readline() worked well. I'm thus fairly certain that the problem reside on the wait time coming from the script execution.

Also, forgive my errors, English is not my main language.

Thanks in advance for your help!

EDIT2 : Since I cannot answer to my own Question :

Here is my "final" code, after using threads :

import java.io.*;

public class PowershellTest implements Runnable {

public InputStream is;

public PowershellTest(InputStream newIs){

    this.is = newIs;
}

@Override
public synchronized void run() {
    String input = "";
    String error = "";

    try {


        InputStreamReader inputstreamreader = new InputStreamReader(is);
        BufferedReader bufferedreader = new BufferedReader(inputstreamreader);

        String line;
        while ((line = bufferedreader.readLine()) != null) {
            input += (line + "\n");

        }

        is.close();

    } catch (IOException e) {
        //throw new OperationException("File IO problem.", e);
    }
    System.out.println("Error : " + error + "\nInput : " + input);
}

}

And the main simply create and start 2 thread (PowerShellTest instances), 1 with the errorStream and 1 with the inputStream.

I believe I made a dumb error when I first coded the app and fixed it somehow as I reworked the code over and over. It still take a good 5-6 mins to run, which is somehow similar if not longer than my previous code (which is logical since the errorStream and inputStream get their information sequentially in my case).

Anyway, thanks to all your answer and especially Miserable Variable for his hint on threading.

Answer 1

First, don't call waitFor() until after you've finished reading the streams. I would highly recommend you look at ProcessBuilder instead of simply using Runtime.exec, and split the command up yourself rather than relying on Java to do it for you:

ProcessBuilder pb = new ProcessBuilder("powershell", "-file", PATH_TO_SCRIPT,
        SERVER_IP, MACHINE_TO_MOD);
pb.redirectErrorStream(true); // merge stdout and stderr
Process proc = pb.start();

redirectErrorStream merges the error output into the normal output, so you only have to read proc.getInputStream(). You should then be able to just read that stream until EOF, then call proc.waitFor().

Answer 2

You are currently waiting to complete reading from inputStream before starting to read from errorStream. If the process writes to its stderr before stdout maybe you are getting into a deadlock situation.

Try reading from both streams from concurrently running threads. While you are at it, also remove proc.getOutputStream().close();. It shouldn't affect the behavior, but it is not required either.