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What Is Signal Disposition?

Signal disposition is the configured response a process has for each type of signal, which can be a custom handler, ignoring the signal, or the kernel default. The default varies by signal, from terminating the process to stopping or dumping core. A process inherits dispositions across exec for some signals and resets others.

Why it matters

Whether a signal is caught, ignored, or fatal decides how a CI step reacts to cancellation and timeouts. Misconfigured dispositions cause processes that refuse to stop or die without cleanup.

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