The timeout step kills not only processes started in its body but as well processes started by other jobs when these processes run in the same directory.

We initially had the issue executing maven tests but it can be easily reproduced with a small powershell script for instance.

• Job A:

  timeout(10) {
      node() {
      	echo "Workspace $env.WORKSPACE"
      
      	timeout(1) {
              powershell '''"Start"
  $counter = 0
  while ($true) {
  	$counter++
  	"Sleeping ($counter)"
  	Start-Sleep -Seconds 5
  }'''
          }
      }
  }
  

• Job B:

  timeout(10) {
      node() {
          def sameDirThanOtherJob = '' // to define
  
          dir(sameDirThanOtherJob) {
          	timeout(time: 10, unit: 'SECONDS') {
                  powershell '''"Start"
  $counter = 0
  while ($true) {
  	$counter++
  	"Sleeping ($counter)"
  	Start-Sleep -Seconds 5
  }'''
              }
          }
      }
  }
  

Output:

• Job A

  ...
  [2023-08-31T10:20:38.424Z] [Pipeline] timeout
  [2023-08-31T10:20:38.424Z] Timeout set to expire in 1 Minute 0 Sekunden
  [2023-08-31T10:20:38.424Z] [Pipeline] {
  [2023-08-31T10:20:38.424Z] [Pipeline] powershell
  [2023-08-31T10:20:41.002Z] Start
  [2023-08-31T10:20:41.002Z] Sleeping (1)
  [2023-08-31T10:20:46.303Z] Sleeping (2)
  [2023-08-31T10:20:51.596Z] Sleeping (3)
  [2023-08-31T10:20:56.865Z] Sleeping (4)
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.256Z] [Pipeline] }
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.256Z] [Pipeline] // timeout
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.256Z] [Pipeline] }
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.256Z] [Pipeline] // node
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.256Z] [Pipeline] }
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.272Z] [Pipeline] // timeout
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.272Z] [Pipeline] End of Pipeline
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.272Z] ERROR: script returned exit code -1
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.287Z] Finished: FAILURE
  

• Job B

  ...
  [2023-08-31T10:20:47.616Z] [Pipeline] {
  [2023-08-31T10:20:47.663Z] [Pipeline] timeout
  [2023-08-31T10:20:47.663Z] Timeout set to expire in 10 Sekunden
  [2023-08-31T10:20:47.678Z] [Pipeline] {
  [2023-08-31T10:20:47.710Z] [Pipeline] powershell
  [2023-08-31T10:20:49.132Z] Start
  [2023-08-31T10:20:49.132Z] Sleeping (1)
  [2023-08-31T10:20:54.402Z] Sleeping (2)
  [2023-08-31T10:20:57.678Z] Cancelling nested steps due to timeout
  [2023-08-31T10:20:57.678Z] Sending interrupt signal to process
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.600Z] script returned exit code -1
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.615Z] [Pipeline] }
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.647Z] [Pipeline] // timeout
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.662Z] [Pipeline] }
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.694Z] [Pipeline] // dir
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.725Z] [Pipeline] }
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.772Z] [Pipeline] // node
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.787Z] [Pipeline] }
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.819Z] [Pipeline] // timeout
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.850Z] [Pipeline] End of Pipeline
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.865Z] Timeout has been exceeded
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.865Z] org.jenkinsci.plugins.workflow.actions.ErrorAction$ErrorId: 63ed9175-4688-47c7-bb7a-518210b28d0b
  [2023-08-31T10:20:58.865Z] Finished: ABORTED
  

Job B is normally cancelled by the timeout. Job A is interrupted as well.

We observe the problem since one or two weeks.