timeout.py

#!/bin/python

import subprocess
import os
from threading import Timer

proc = None
proc_timeout = 3.0

def on_timeout():
    print "Timed out!"
    if proc:
        proc.kill()

def run_with_timeout(cmd, proc_timeout=10.0, on_timeout=on_timeout):
    t = Timer(proc_timeout, on_timeout)
    t.start()

    proc = subprocess.Popen(cmd, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
    out = proc.communicate()[0]
    t.cancel()
    print "Output: {}".format(out)


run_with_timeout(['sleep', '5'], proc_timeout)