using shell_exec to call a perl script from php

Question

I am having an issue with executing a perl script from php using the shell_exec() function.

This is what I have tried (and it has worked before).

$perl = shell_exec("/usr/bin/perl cbh_script_clean.pl");
echo ($perl);

This will not work as $perl does not contain anything after this is executed.

Thoughts?

All help is appreciated!

Thanks.

What happens when you run `/usr/bin/perl cbh_script_clean.pl` straight from the command line? — webbiedave, May 11 '11 at 23:06
But what happens? What do you see on the screen after you run the command? — webbiedave, May 11 '11 at 23:08
Try adding `2>&1` after the command. Chances are the pathname to the perl script is just wrong. Also have a look into the error.log, which otherwise contains the according message. — mario, May 11 '11 at 23:11
@webbie: the script is run fully. it successfully runs the script — jmg0880, May 11 '11 at 23:11
ahhhh it tells me there is a permissions error. i was creating 2 logs in order to troubleshoot with the Net::Telnet:Cisco module and i didnt have them set for full permissions — jmg0880, May 11 '11 at 23:14
What it does is: telling you that there was a permissions error. :) — mario, May 11 '11 at 23:17

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered May 11 '11 at 23:19

I'll make that an answer then.

You can often append 2>&1 to redirect the stderr output to the normal stdout stream. This way you receive any error messages in the PHP variable. (Otherwise they will get lost with system/exec/shell_exec, which is why people sometimes use proc_open with explicit pipes instead).

$perl = shell_exec("/usr/bin/perl cbh_script_clean.pl 2>&1");
echo ($perl);

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 29 '20 at 18:56

1

Try this:

$perl = shell_exec("/usr/bin/perl cbh_script_clean.pl 2>/dev/null >/dev/null &"); echo ($perl);

answered Jun 29 '20 at 18:56

Eric Macedo

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using shell_exec to call a perl script from php

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