Yes, it's possible. I don't think a java process is any different than any other process in this regard. See these links for unix exec with timeout and windows exec with timeout.
I didn't write this code, but here it is copy-pasted in case the original disappears from the Internet:
For unix:
<?php
function PsExecute($command, $timeout = 60, $sleep = 2) {
// First, execute the process, get the process ID
$pid = PsExec($command);
if( $pid === false )
return false;
$cur = 0;
// Second, loop for $timeout seconds checking if process is running
while( $cur < $timeout ) {
sleep($sleep);
$cur += $sleep;
// If process is no longer running, return true;
echo "
---- $cur ------
";
if( !PsExists($pid) )
return true; // Process must have exited, success!
}
// If process is still running after timeout, kill the process and return false
PsKill($pid);
return false;
}
function PsExec($commandJob) {
$command = $commandJob.' > /dev/null 2>&1 & echo $!';
exec($command ,$op);
$pid = (int)$op[0];
if($pid!="") return $pid;
return false;
}
function PsExists($pid) {
exec("ps ax | grep $pid 2>&1", $output);
while( list(,$row) = each($output) ) {
$row_array = explode(" ", $row);
$check_pid = $row_array[0];
if($pid == $check_pid) {
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
function PsKill($pid) {
exec("kill -9 $pid", $output);
}
For windows:
<?php
// pstools.inc.php
function PsExecute($command, $timeout = 60, $sleep = 2) {
// First, execute the process, get the process ID
$pid = PsExec($command);
if( $pid === false )
return false;
$cur = 0;
// Second, loop for $timeout seconds checking if process is running
while( $cur < $timeout ) {
sleep($sleep);
$cur += $sleep;
// If process is no longer running, return true;
if( !PsExists($pid) )
return true; // Process must have exited, success!
}
// If process is still running after timeout, kill the process and return false
PsKill($pid);
return false;
}
function PsExec($command) {
exec( dirname(__FILE__). "\\psexec.exe -s -d $command 2>&1", $output);
while( list(,$row) = each($output) ) {
$found = stripos($row, 'with process ID ');
if( $found )
return substr($row, $found, strlen($row)-$found-strlen('with process ID ')-1); // chop off last character '.' from line
}
return false;
}
function PsExists($pid) {
exec( dirname(__FILE__). "\\pslist.exe $pid 2>&1", $output);
while( list(,$row) = each($output) ) {
$found = stristr($row, "process $pid was not found");
if( $found !== false )
return false;
}
return true;
}
function PsKill($pid) {
exec( dirname(__FILE__). "\\pskill.exe $pid", $output);
}