Unable to execute DOC to PDF conversion command via PHP exec

Question

I am unable to execute the following command under user apache using php exec function.

exec('/usr/bin/libreoffice --headless --convert-to pdf --outdir /var/www/html/ /var/www/html/coverpage.doc');

OS : CentOS 6.4 Final

Any help or suggestions are highly appreciable. Thanks

use a php pdf class? dompdf, tcpdf, phpexcel, phpword etcetc — Dave, Nov 12 '13 at 10:23
What happens if you use the command by itself? What user is your PHP running as? Does that user have access to the executeable? — h2ooooooo, Nov 12 '13 at 10:35
@h2ooooooo : via direct ssh, command works good. but via php its not working. PHP is running under user apache. — LX7, Nov 12 '13 at 10:51
@LX7 Then I'll ask again - [switch user to the "apache" user](http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/3568/how-to-switch-between-users-on-one-terminal) and then run the command. Does it **then** work good? — h2ooooooo, Nov 12 '13 at 10:56
@h2ooooooo: No its not working for user apache, Can you please tell me how can i set executable permission for user apache..??? — LX7, Nov 12 '13 at 10:58
@LX7 [Perhaps you can try this](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9593724/php-how-to-execute-a-command) or [this](http://superuser.com/questions/627266/convert-file-to-pdf-using-libreoffice-under-user-apache-i-e-when-using-php) — h2ooooooo, Nov 12 '13 at 11:18
@LX7 If you figured out how to fix it then make sure to add it as an answer so whoever else has this problem can figure it out as well. — h2ooooooo, Nov 13 '13 at 12:17

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 14 '13 at 05:20

1

First check for the permission given for /var/www folder. Give apache:apache as owner for /var/www/.

Use the below command to install libreoffice headless package if it is not installed.

sudo yum install openoffice.org-headless

This has worked for me in centOS.

edited Nov 14 '13 at 05:20

LX7

answered Nov 14 '13 at 04:43

Liju Raj

Issue was with headless package and I already fixed it. :) . Any way thanks. – LX7 Nov 14 '13 at 05:36

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 12 '13 at 10:32

There may be numerous reasons start by redirecting command error output to a file and then continue troubleshooting from there :

exec('/usr/bin/libreoffice --headless --convert-to pdf --outdir /var/www/html/ /var/www/html/coverpage.doc 2> /tmp/error.txt');

After running the script check /tmp/error.txt.

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:52

I would first of all try it with giving absolute paths to the command.
I suspect that the libreoffice binary does not work -- you have to locate the soffice binary and see if that works.
Then, your --convert-to pdf is not sufficient. It needs to be:

--convert-to pdf:writer_pdf_Export
Next, the command will not work if there is already a LibreOffice GUI instance up and running on your system. Add this additional parameter to your command:

"-env:UserInstallation=file:///tmp/LibreOffice_Conversion_${USER}"
Also, make sure that the --outdir /pdf you specify does exist, and that you have write permission to it. Or, rather use a different output dir. Even if it is just for the first testing and this debugging round:

$ mkdir ${HOME}/lo_pdfs
This works for me on Mac OS X Mavericks 10.9.5 with LibreOffice v4.4.3.2 (using my specific path for the binary soffice which will be different for you anyway...).
```
/path/to/soffice                                                     
```
--headless

"-env:UserInstallation=file:///tmp/LibreOffice_Conversion_${USER}"

--convert-to pdf:writer_pdf_Export

--outdir ${HOME}/lo_pdfs path/to/test.docx

3 Answers3