PHP Prevent Multiple Instances Of The Same Script

PHP Prevent Multiple Instances Of The Same Script

Using flock, you are able to lock a file and hence only allow one instance of your script to run. If your script terminates abruptly, or you fail to release the lock, the OS will automatically release the locks when the process holding them terminates. Hence, this is a much better alternative to using for example, a text file or database record.

<?php

$lock_file = fopen('path/to/yourlock.pid', 'c');
$got_lock = flock($lock_file, LOCK_EX | LOCK_NB, $wouldblock);
if ($lock_file === false || (!$got_lock && !$wouldblock)) {
    throw new Exception(
        "Unexpected error opening or locking lock file. Perhaps you " .
        "don't  have permission to write to the lock file or its " .
        "containing directory?"
    );
}
else if (!$got_lock && $wouldblock) {
    exit("Another instance is already running; terminating.\n");
}

// Lock acquired; let's write our PID to the lock file for the convenience
// of humans who may wish to terminate the script.
ftruncate($lock_file, 0);
fwrite($lock_file, getmypid() . "\n");

/*
    The main body of your script goes here.
*/
echo "Hello, world!";

// All done; we blank the PID file and explicitly release the lock 
// (although this should be unnecessary) before terminating.
ftruncate($lock_file, 0);
flock($lock_file, LOCK_UN);