A method for singleton process control in a computer environment is provided. A process identification (PID) for a background process is stored in a first temporary file. A determination operation is performed for determining if the parent process is alive for a predetermined number of tries. The PID of the background process is written from the first temporary file into a first PID variable when the parent process ends. A determination operation is performed for determining whether a second, global temporary file is empty. The background process is exited if an active PID is determined to exist in a second, global temporary file. The PID from the first temporary file is stored into the second, global temporary file. A singleton code block is then executed.