[Python] How to Properly Stop a GNU screen Session and Ensure All Running Processes Are Killed?

I’m using GNU screen to run a service, but when I stop the session, the processes running inside it are not always terminated properly. This results in ports remaining occupied and prevents the service from restarting cleanly.

I have a Python class that manages screen sessions, where I start a service using:

screen -dmS my_service -L -Logfile /tmp/my_service.log zsh -i


To stop the session, I currently do:

screen -S my_service -X stuff 'kill -TERM -$$\n'
screen -X -S my_service quit

The Problem:

• The screen session is closed, but the processes inside it (like a java spring app ./gradlew bootRun) continue running.
• This leads to ports being occupied, making it impossible to restart the service without manually killing the lingering processes.

What I Want:


I need a reliable way to stop a screen session and ensure all processes inside it are properly terminated.

I tried to get the session’s PID and kill all its processes before quitting the session:

import subprocess

def stop_screen_session(session_name: str):
"""Stop a screen session and ensure all processes inside are killed."""
try:
# Get the session's main PID
get_pid_cmd = f"screen -ls | grep {session_name} | awk '{{print $1}}' | cut -d'.' -f1"
result = subprocess.run(get_pid_cmd, shell=True, capture_output=True, text=True, check=False)
pid = result.stdout.strip()

if pid:
# Kill all processes in the session's process group
subprocess.run(f"pkill -TERM -g {pid}", shell=True, check=True)

# Check if any processes are still running and force kill if necessary
check_cmd = f"ps -eo pgid | grep {pid}"
result = subprocess.run(check_cmd, shell=True, capture_output=True, text=True, check=False)

if result.stdout.strip():
print(f"Processes still running under session {session_name}, forcing termination.")
subprocess.run(f"pkill -KILL -g {pid}", shell=True, check=True)

# Quit the screen session
subprocess.run(f"screen -X -S {session_name} quit", shell=True, check=True)

print(f"Screen session {session_name} stopped successfully.")

except subprocess.CalledProcessError as err:
print(f"Failed to stop session {session_name}: {err}")

stop_screen_session("my_service")


This is not working properly ..

Continue reading...