nodeJS exec does not work for "cd " shell cmd

Question

var sys = require('sys'),     exec = require('child_process').exec;  exec("cd /home/ubuntu/distro", function(err, stdout, stderr) {         console.log("cd: " + err + " : "  + stdout);         exec("pwd", function(err, stdout, stderr) {             console.log("pwd: " + err + " : " + stdout);             exec("git status", function(err, stdout, stderr) {                 console.log("git status returned " ); console.log(err);             })         })     }) 

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cd: null :  pwd: null : /  git status returned  { [Error: Command failed: fatal: Not a git repository (or any of the parent directories): .git ] killed: false, code: 128, signal: null } 

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nodeJS exec does not work for "cd " shell cmd. as you see below, pwd works, git status is trying to work but fails because it is not executed in a git directory, but cd cmd fails stopping further successful execution of other cmds. Tried in nodeJS shell as well as nodeJS+ExpressJS webserver.

Answer 1

Each command is executed in a separate shell, so the first cd only affects that shell process which then terminates. If you want to run git in a particular directory, just have Node set the path for you:

exec('git status', {cwd: '/home/ubuntu/distro'}, /* ... */); 

cwd (current working directory) is one of many options available for exec.