sub cmd_wrapper {
    my( $cmd ) = @_;
    my( $rc , $out );

    eval {
        local $SIG{ALRM} = sub { die "alarm\n" };
        alarm 15;
        $out = (`$cmd`)[0]; # Get first line of output
        $rc = $?;
        alarm 0;
        };

    if( $@ ) {
        die "Eval failed for $cmd but not because of alarm" if $@ ne "alarm\n"; # Propogate unexpected errors
        die "Eval failed for $cmd because alarm timed out";
        }

    die "Return code undefined for $cmd" unless defined $rc;
    return $rc, $out if wantarray;
    return $rc;
    }