Five Ways to Run Python Scripts in the Background on Linux

1. Use nohup command

The nohup command runs a program on a remote server and redirects output to nohup.out. Execute a Python script in the background with: nohup python script.py & The trailing & puts the process in the background and returns a PID; output can be inspected in nohup.out.

2. Use screen command

screen

creates detachable terminal sessions that persist after SSH disconnects. Start a session and run the script:

screen -S mysession
python script.py

Detach with Ctrl+A D to return to the console while the script continues.

3. Use systemd service

Systemd manages services on Linux. Create a unit file /etc/systemd/system/myscript.service:

[Unit]
Description=My Python Script
After=multi-user.target

[Service]
Type=idle
ExecStart=/usr/bin/python3 /path/to/script.py

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Reload the daemon, start the service, and check its status:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl start myscript
sudo systemctl status myscript

4. Use Celery task queue

Celery enables asynchronous task execution. Install it, define a task, start a worker, and call the task:

pip install celery

from celery import Celery
app = Celery('task', backend='rpc://', broker='amqp://localhost')

@app.task
def mytask():
    # task logic

celery -A tasks worker

from tasks import mytask
mytask.delay()

5. Use supervisord

Supervisord controls processes. Install it, create a config file /etc/supervisor/conf.d/myscript.conf:

[program:myscript]
command=/usr/bin/python /path/to/script.py
autostart=true
autorestart=true
stderr_logfile=/var/log/myscript.err.log
stdout_logfile=/var/log/myscript.out.log
user=username

Reload the configuration and start the script:

sudo supervisorctl reread
sudo supervisorctl update
sudo supervisorctl start myscript

These five approaches—nohup, screen, systemd, Celery, and supervisord—provide flexible options for running Python programs as background services on Linux systems.