Execute audio player on server when link is clicked on web page

Question

I can't seem to figure out how to open an mp3 File on my Webserver. If I just href the Song (Code below) it opens it on the Client I am accessing it from. I want the Song to play on the Webserver even if I access the html page from another Device.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<a href="Song.mp3">Song</a>

</body>
</html>

How do I solve this? I am using a Raspberry Pie, Apache, VLC (to play mp3) Thanks for your support :D

This has nothing to do with my question. My mp3 file opens fine when I click on the link. I just can't figure out how to always execute the mp3 file on the server (Raspberry) instead of it opening on the client device as I click on the html link. — zeveos, Feb 02 '19 at 16:13
So you don't want to use your browser just via terminal, right? — Matej, Feb 02 '19 at 16:14
Yes I'd like this command to be executed on the Server when clicking the link: vlc Song.mp3 — zeveos, Feb 02 '19 at 16:18
So something totally different. Is this what you want?: start http web server on rpi, sends html to client, when client clicks to the button play audio? — Matej, Feb 02 '19 at 16:20
Oh, I see, you have apache server, so use php system() function http://php.net/manual/en/function.system.php — Matej, Feb 02 '19 at 16:21
I changed this in the html: Song And created a php file but it is still not working. If I execute the php File on the server itself it works but it doesn't if I click the link. Here the php code: — zeveos, Feb 02 '19 at 16:41
I posted answer instead of comment, is it possible to remove answer? xd — Matej, Feb 02 '19 at 16:42

Matej · Answer 1 · 2019-02-03T11:50:51.877

1

Try this:

index.html:

<a href="/script.php">Song</a>

script.php:

<?php exec('export DISPLAY=:0; cvlc songs/Song1.mp3'); ?>

Edit:

Solution with inotifywait which can be CPU consumption friendly:

Php:

<?php 
    shell_exec('cat Song1.txt');
 ?>

Bash:

touch Song1.txt  
while  [ -f run.txt ]
do
    inotifywait --event=close_nowrite Song1.txt
    cvlc --play-and-exit songs/song.mp3
done

edited Feb 03 '19 at 11:50

answered Feb 02 '19 at 16:39

Matej

782
2
6
19

no still not working. Gives me a blank page and nothing executes. The Button obviously doesn't make a connection to the script because the php script itself works. – zeveos Feb 02 '19 at 16:47
@Oromis Blank page is all right, because php doesn't print anything. Is path in `exec() ` correct? – Matej Feb 02 '19 at 16:49
yes because the cli command: php script.php starts the mp3 with vlc correctly – zeveos Feb 02 '19 at 16:51
@Oromis Ohh, does it start graphic interface? – Matej Feb 02 '19 at 16:52
@Oromis That's the problem put there `cvlc` instead of `vlc` – Matej Feb 02 '19 at 16:53
It works with php script.php but not when clicking the html link. The html page then loads endlessly – zeveos Feb 02 '19 at 17:00
sadly no difference – zeveos Feb 02 '19 at 17:09
@Oromis Can you connect via ssh to your pi? Try run this command via ssh, it can be suchlike execute from php. – Matej Feb 02 '19 at 17:11
export DISPLAY=:0; cvlc songs/Song1.mp3 worked via ssh – zeveos Feb 02 '19 at 17:27
@Oromis And php script.php via ssh? – Matej Feb 02 '19 at 17:33
@Oromis I tried it too with php builtin server and without `export DISPLAY=:0;` and it worked for me. – Matej Feb 02 '19 at 18:21
@Oromis I believe that it's apache problem because today I was working with apache too and thing which works with nginx doesn't work with apache. – Matej Feb 02 '19 at 22:11
@Oromis Or if you need just this you can you one of python http web server libraries. For example Tornado or Flask. – Matej Feb 03 '19 at 10:05

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 03 '19 at 10:49

1

Because I couldn't execute the command directly I had to create a script which reacts to created files.

<?php 
    shell_exec('touch Song1.txt');
    ?>

Song.sh :

while  [ -f run.txt ]
do
if [ -f Song1.txt ];
then  
        cvlc --play-and-exit songs/song.mp3
        rm -f Song1.txt
fi
done

answered Feb 03 '19 at 10:49

zeveos

25
4

That's also solution but CPU consumption is high, right? Add some sleep, for example `sleep 0.1` under the `fi` or use `inotify` – Matej Feb 03 '19 at 11:11
I edited my answer with `inotify`, it can use less CPU. – Matej Feb 03 '19 at 11:51

Execute audio player on server when link is clicked on web page

2 Answers2