close the STDOUT/STDIN/STDERR to signal to apache to not wait for child proc...

Proc::Background/Using Proc::Background and Win32 or cronjob, Watching long processes through CGI (Aug 02)

Well, try increasing timeout :) timeout site:perl.apache.org/timeout site:perl.apache.org

or restructure your program :) Watching long processes through CGI (Aug 02)

Disable timelimits. Maybe launch process in background, Proc::Background, Highlander: one instance at a time (Oct 00), Watching long processes through CGI (Aug 02), Re: ERROR on CGI script:The timeout specified has expired

Try system_detached