Run Bash Command from PHP

Question

I have a bash script, that I run like this via the command line:

./script.sh var1 var2 

I am trying to execute the above command, after I call a certain php file.

What I have right now is:

$output = shell_exec("./script.sh var1 var2"); echo "<pre>$output</pre>"; 

But it doesn´t work. I tried it using exec and system too, but the script never got executed.

However when I try to run shell_exec("ls"); it does work and $output is a list of all files.

I am not sure whether this is because of a limitation of the VPS I am using or if the problem is somewhere else?

Answer 1

You probably need to chdir to the correct directory before calling the script. This way you can ensure what directory your script is "in" before calling the shell command.

$old_path = getcwd(); chdir('/my/path/'); $output = shell_exec('./script.sh var1 var2'); chdir($old_path);