diff --git a/src/meson.build b/src/meson.build
index f2be42e29..ab0760099 100644
--- a/src/meson.build
+++ b/src/meson.build
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ kiwix_sources = [
   'reader.cpp',
   'entry.cpp',
   'searcher.cpp',
+  'subprocess.cpp',
   'common/base64.cpp',
   'common/pathTools.cpp',
   'common/regexTools.cpp',
@@ -17,6 +18,12 @@ kiwix_sources = [
 ]
 kiwix_sources += lib_resources
 
+if host_machine.system() == 'windows'
+  kiwix_sources += 'subprocess_windows.cpp'
+else
+  kiwix_sources += 'subprocess_unix.cpp'
+endif
+
 if xapian_dep.found()
   kiwix_sources += ['xapianSearcher.cpp']
 endif
diff --git a/src/subprocess.cpp b/src/subprocess.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6c958c489
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/subprocess.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+
+
+#include "subprocess.h"
+
+#ifdef _WIN32
+# include "subprocess_windows.h"
+#else
+# include "subprocess_unix.h"
+#endif
+
+Subprocess::Subprocess(std::unique_ptr<SubprocessImpl> impl, const commandLine_t& commandLine) :
+  mp_impl(std::move(impl))
+{
+  mp_impl->run(commandLine);
+}
+
+Subprocess::~Subprocess()
+{
+  mp_impl->kill();
+}
+
+std::unique_ptr<Subprocess> Subprocess::run(const commandLine_t& commandLine)
+{
+#ifdef _WIN32
+  auto impl = std::unique_ptr<SubprocessImpl>(new WinImpl);
+#else
+  auto impl = std::unique_ptr<UnixImpl>(new UnixImpl);
+#endif
+  return std::unique_ptr<Subprocess>(new Subprocess(std::move(impl), commandLine));
+}
+
+bool Subprocess::isRunning()
+{
+  return mp_impl->isRunning();
+}
+
+bool Subprocess::kill()
+{
+  return mp_impl->kill();
+}
diff --git a/src/subprocess.h b/src/subprocess.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9ed75eb21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/subprocess.h
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+
+#ifndef KIWIX_SUBPROCESS_H_
+#define KIWIX_SUBPROCESS_H_
+
+#include <string>
+#include <memory>
+#include <vector>
+
+typedef std::vector<const char *> commandLine_t;
+
+class SubprocessImpl
+{
+  public:
+    virtual void run(const commandLine_t& commandLine) = 0;
+    virtual bool kill() = 0;
+    virtual bool isRunning() = 0;
+    virtual ~SubprocessImpl() = default;
+};
+
+class Subprocess
+{
+  private:
+    // Impl depends of the system (window, unix, ...)
+    std::unique_ptr<SubprocessImpl> mp_impl;
+    Subprocess(std::unique_ptr<SubprocessImpl> impl, const commandLine_t& commandLine);
+
+  public:
+    static std::unique_ptr<Subprocess> run(const commandLine_t& commandLine);
+    ~Subprocess();
+
+    bool isRunning();
+    bool kill();
+};
+
+
+#endif // KIWIX_SUBPROCESS_H_
diff --git a/src/subprocess_unix.cpp b/src/subprocess_unix.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8c5272816
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/subprocess_unix.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+
+
+#include "subprocess_unix.h"
+
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <iostream>
+#include <signal.h>
+#include <sys/wait.h>
+
+UnixImpl::UnixImpl():
+  m_pid(0),
+  m_running(false),
+  m_mutex(PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER),
+  m_waitingThread()
+{
+}
+
+UnixImpl::~UnixImpl()
+{
+  kill();
+  pthread_cancel(m_waitingThread);
+}
+
+void* UnixImpl::waitForPID(void* _self)
+{
+  UnixImpl* self = static_cast<UnixImpl*>(_self);
+  waitpid(self->m_pid, NULL, WEXITED);
+
+  pthread_mutex_lock(&self->m_mutex);
+  self->m_running = false;
+  pthread_mutex_unlock(&self->m_mutex);
+
+  return self;
+}
+
+void UnixImpl::run(const commandLine_t& commandLine)
+{
+  const char* binary = commandLine[0];
+  std::cerr << "running " << binary << std::endl;
+  int pid = fork();
+  switch(pid) {
+    case -1:
+      std::cerr << "cannot fork" << std::endl;
+      break;
+    case 0:
+      if (execvp(binary, const_cast<char* const*>(commandLine.data()))) {
+        perror("Cannot launch\n");
+        exit(-1);
+      }
+
+      break;
+    default:
+      m_pid = pid;
+      m_running = true;
+      pthread_create(&m_waitingThread, NULL, waitForPID, this);
+      break;
+  }
+}
+
+bool UnixImpl::kill()
+{
+  return (::kill(m_pid, SIGKILL) == 0);
+}
+
+bool UnixImpl::isRunning()
+{
+  pthread_mutex_lock(&m_mutex);
+  bool ret = m_running;
+  pthread_mutex_unlock(&m_mutex);
+  return ret;
+}
diff --git a/src/subprocess_unix.h b/src/subprocess_unix.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..750658943
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/subprocess_unix.h
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#ifndef KIWIX_SUBPROCESS_UNIX_H_
+#define KIWIX_SUBPROCESS_UNIX_H_
+
+#include "subprocess.h"
+
+#include <pthread.h>
+
+
+class UnixImpl : public SubprocessImpl
+{
+  private:
+    int m_pid;
+    bool m_running;
+    pthread_mutex_t m_mutex;
+    pthread_t m_waitingThread;
+
+  public:
+    UnixImpl();
+    virtual ~UnixImpl();
+
+    void run(const commandLine_t& commandLine);
+    bool kill();
+    bool isRunning();
+
+    static void* waitForPID(void* self);
+};
+
+#endif //KIWIX_SUBPROCESS_UNIX_H_
diff --git a/src/subprocess_windows.cpp b/src/subprocess_windows.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..226bd5d15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/subprocess_windows.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+
+
+#include "subprocess_windows.h"
+
+#include <windows.h>
+#include <winbase.h>
+#include <iostream>
+#include <sstream>
+
+WinImpl::WinImpl():
+  m_pid(0),
+  m_running(false),
+  m_handle(INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
+{
+  InitializeCriticalSection(&m_criticalSection);
+}
+
+WinImpl::~WinImpl()
+{
+  kill();
+  CloseHandle(m_handle);
+  DeleteCriticalSection(&m_criticalSection);
+}
+
+DWORD WINAPI WinImpl::waitForPID(void* _self)
+{
+  WinImpl* self = static_cast<WinImpl*>(_self);
+  WaitForSingleObject(self->m_handle, INFINITE);
+
+  EnterCriticalSection(&self->m_criticalSection);
+  self->m_running = false;
+  LeaveCriticalSection(&self->m_criticalSection);
+
+  return 0;
+}
+
+std::unique_ptr<wchar_t[]> toWideChar(const std::string& value)
+{
+  auto size = MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0,
+                value.c_str(), -1, nullptr, 0);
+  auto wdata = std::unique_ptr<wchar_t[]>(new wchar_t[size]);
+  auto ret = MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0,
+                value.c_str(), -1, wdata.get(), size);
+  if (0 == ret) {
+    std::ostringstream oss;
+    oss << "Cannot convert to wchar : " << GetLastError();
+    throw std::runtime_error(oss.str());
+  }
+  return wdata;
+}
+
+
+void WinImpl::run(const commandLine_t& commandLine)
+{
+  STARTUPINFOW startInfo = {0};
+  PROCESS_INFORMATION procInfo;
+  startInfo.cb = sizeof(startInfo);
+  const char* binary = commandLine[0];
+  std::cerr << "running " << binary << std::endl;
+  std::ostringstream oss;
+  for(auto& item: commandLine) {
+    oss << item << " ";
+  }
+  if (CreateProcessW(
+    toWideChar(binary).get(),
+    toWideChar(oss.str()).get(),
+    NULL,
+    NULL,
+    false,
+    CREATE_NO_WINDOW,
+    NULL,
+    NULL,
+    &startInfo,
+    &procInfo)) {
+    m_pid = procInfo.dwProcessId;
+    m_handle = procInfo.hProcess;
+    CloseHandle(procInfo.hThread);
+    m_running = true;
+    CreateThread(NULL, 0, &waitForPID, this, 0, NULL	);
+  }
+}
+
+bool WinImpl::kill()
+{
+  return TerminateProcess(m_handle, 0);
+}
+
+bool WinImpl::isRunning()
+{
+  EnterCriticalSection(&m_criticalSection);
+  bool ret = m_running;
+  LeaveCriticalSection(&m_criticalSection);
+  return ret;
+}
diff --git a/src/subprocess_windows.h b/src/subprocess_windows.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..42aaa41f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/subprocess_windows.h
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+#ifndef KIWIX_SUBPROCESS_WINDOWS_H_
+#define KIWIX_SUBPROCESS_WINDOWS_H_
+
+#include "subprocess.h"
+
+#include <synchapi.h>
+
+class WinImpl : public SubprocessImpl
+{
+  private:
+    int m_pid;
+    bool m_running;
+    HANDLE m_handle;
+    CRITICAL_SECTION m_criticalSection;
+
+  public:
+    WinImpl();
+    virtual ~WinImpl();
+
+    void run(const commandLine_t& commandLine);
+    bool kill();
+    bool isRunning();
+
+    static DWORD WINAPI waitForPID(void* self);
+};
+
+#endif //KIWIX_SUBPROCESS_WINDOWS_H_