mkdir command not found with Python 3 on Debian

Question

I'm sure this is something simple, but I'm trying several settings and I just can't seem to get this to work.

I have the following code:

import subprocess

p = subprocess.Popen('mkdir -p /backups/my_folder', stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT, shell=True)

This is running in a flask application on nginx and python 3

When this executes I'm getting the following error:

/bin/sh: 1: mkdir: not found

I've tried with shell=False, I've tried with Popen(['mkdir', ...]), and I've tried subprocess.run like this question/answer

If I run with shell=False, I get the following error:

Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'mkdir -p /backups/my_folder': 'mkdir -p /backups/my_folder'

When I do /bin/mkdir, it works. But, there are other commands which call sub commands that fail (tar calling gz for instance)

What am I missing to get this to work?

Running:

Debian 9.8, Nginx 1.14.0, Python 3.6.8

EDIT

I need this to work for other commands as well. I know I can use os.makedirs, but I have several different commands I will be executing (rsync, ssh, tar, and more)

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 14 '19 at 18:37

2

For these simple commands, try to use python instead of invoking the shell - it makes you more independent of the environment:

os.makedirs('/backups/my_folder', exist_ok=True)

answered Jun 14 '19 at 18:37

nosklo

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Thanks, I've updated my question to indicate that I need it on a general level. I have several commands I need to execute – CodeLikeBeaker Jun 14 '19 at 18:39
I still think going python is the solution @CodeLikeBeaker - you can open tar and gzip files directly from python too. `subprocess` module will try to find the programs in the `PATH` and if they are not there, there is nothing python can do – nosklo Jun 14 '19 at 18:39

CodeLikeBeaker · Accepted Answer · 2019-06-17T15:27:15.000

1

I found the problem.

I realized that my /etc/systemd/system/site.service uWSGI settings had a hard coded path:

Environment = /usr/local/bin

Once, I changed this to include /bin, all my subprocess commands executed just fine.

edited Jun 17 '19 at 15:27

answered Jun 14 '19 at 19:15

CodeLikeBeaker

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Jainil Patel · Answer 3 · 2019-06-14T19:01:00.300

-1

import subprocess
p = subprocess.Popen('mkdir -p my_folder', stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT, shell=True)
(result, error) = p.communicate()
print(result)

this is for only windows 10.

edited Jun 14 '19 at 19:01

answered Jun 14 '19 at 18:51

Jainil Patel

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Sorry, but this does not work. It doesn't resolve the command not found issue. – CodeLikeBeaker Jun 14 '19 at 18:53
I'm on Debian 9, not windows 10 – CodeLikeBeaker Jun 14 '19 at 18:54
PATH=$PATH:/bin ------>this has solved your path problem. – Jainil Patel Jun 14 '19 at 19:23
Yes, because it wasn't set by default on debian, whereas It is on Ubuntu (at least 16.04) – CodeLikeBeaker Jun 14 '19 at 19:24

mkdir command not found with Python 3 on Debian

3 Answers3