How to call an executable file from a PHP script

Question

I want to run a PHP script which calls an executable cpp file on a remote server.

I have tried like below:

1.Created a cpp file

// function example
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int addition (int a, int b)
{
    int r;
    r=a+b;
    return r;
}

int main ()
{
    int z;
    z = addition (5,3);
    cout << "The result is " << z;
    return z;
}

Generated its .exe file and put it in server's folder(test.exe)

Step2 : Created a php scripts which call exe file using 'shell_exec'

<?php 
if (function_exists('shell_exec')){
    echo "Enabled";
} else {
    echo "Disabled";
}
$file = 'test.exe';
if (!file_exists($file)) echo 'File does not exists';
$out= shell_exec($file);
//exec($file, $out);
echo 'ouput is:: ' .$out;?>

Also, I've put this PHP file on a remote server and tried to call the PHP script in the browser. But it shows error Warning: shell_exec() [function.shell-exec]: Unable to execute 'test.exe'. I want to echo "ouput is:: 8".

Please help to verify.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11789095/run-c-script-in-php — marc_s, Jul 17 '15 at 07:24
It is not question about `C++`. Your program can be written in any language. — Piotr Siupa, Jul 17 '15 at 07:25
is remoteserver a windows server? has your php-user rights to execute the programm-file? — donald123, Jul 17 '15 at 07:27
Most likely your remote server is a Linux machine, which can't understand exe executables. You have to compile your program explicitly for server architecture. — ptkoz, Jul 17 '15 at 07:27
Try `exec($file);`. You should hopefully at least get some more output. — EM-Creations, Jul 17 '15 at 07:29
@EM-Creations When using exec($file, $output); shows 'Warning: exec() [function.exec]: Unable to fork [test.exe]' — Dhanya Santhosh, Jul 17 '15 at 07:31
About the output you get: I suggest you read the documentation of the php functions `shell_exec()`, `exec()` and the like. The documentation clearly explains how to access the process output. — arkascha, Jul 17 '15 at 07:33
@DhanyaSanthosh Check http://stackoverflow.com/questions/20648949/php-warning-exec-unable-to-fork — EM-Creations, Jul 17 '15 at 07:33

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 17 '15 at 07:30

1

Use:

exec("./test.exe", $out);

Note that $out will hold the output.
remember thatshell_exec returns all of the output stream as a string, but exec returns the last line of the output.

answered Jul 17 '15 at 07:30

marc_s

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it shows Warning: exec() [function.exec]: Unable to fork [./test.exe] in D:\Hosting\10676289\html\cpp\test.php on line 11 ouput is:: Array – Dhanya Santhosh Jul 17 '15 at 07:36
Have you googled the error? I've googled it for you & this is what i came across:http://stackoverflow.com/questions/20648949/php-warning-exec-unable-to-fork – marc_s Jul 17 '15 at 07:40
tried as in above link , echo system("ulimit -a"); shows Unable to fork – Dhanya Santhosh Jul 17 '15 at 08:22

How to call an executable file from a PHP script

1 Answers1