Executing a python file from PHP - Linux

Question

I have a python file that I would want to execute whenever a php page is called. The python file is in the same folder as the php file. The python script on execution edits a textfile that the php file accesses.

I have the following code:

<?php 
exec("python somefile.py",$output);
$file = fopen("test.txt",'r');
....

For some reason, the python script never gets executed. I know this certainly as I can see it from the changes in the text file. Since I was not sure if the script was made executable, so I included "python" on the command. I also ran:

chmod +x somefile.py

just to make sure this was not the reason. But this did not help too. What should I change to make the php page execute the python script whenever it is called?

Are you able to run exec()? Many times you'll find it in disabled functions for php. — Pitchinnate
– Pitchinnate, Commented Jul 15, 2013 at 17:43
have you tried /usr/bin/python ...? $PATH may not being available in web server environment — hek2mgl
– hek2mgl, Commented Jul 15, 2013 at 17:44
I am not sure if that is the case. As I see no errors when I load the php page. Is there a way to enable exec() function? Or is there a way around it? — Kumaran Senapathy
– Kumaran Senapathy, Commented Jul 15, 2013 at 17:45
ini_set('display_errors', 1); goes to the first line of the php script. reload the page, what are you seeing? — hek2mgl
– hek2mgl, Commented Jul 15, 2013 at 17:55

Rob Adams · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-15 18:56:11Z

1

This is most likely a permission issue.

Try

echo exec("whoami");

This will let you know who php is running as. Then you need to verify this user can run the python script. If the file was not created by the same daemon that runs python, you will most likely be denied permission.

Update

This will let you know who owns all the files you are working with. The file being written to needs to be writable by the user that is running python. If you are running python from ssh, that is most likely not the same user as when you run python from exec.

echo exec('whoami') . "<br>";
echo exec("ls -l test.txt") . "<br>";
echo exec("ls -l somefile.py") . "<br>";

Update 2

Because I constantly forget this exists.

passthru('python somefile.py 1 2>&1');

This will exec your python file, and output stderr to stdout.

edited Jul 15, 2013 at 18:56

answered Jul 15, 2013 at 18:26

Rob Adams

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4 Comments

Rob Adams Over a year ago

Can the apache user run the python script? And can the apache user write to the file?

Kumaran Senapathy Over a year ago

I am not quite sure. I am new to linux and php. It could be very naive, but is Apache not the server? Does that have like a user account? Throw some light on this please.

Kumaran Senapathy Over a year ago

apache -rw-rw-r-- 1 vicqa user1 3 Jul 15 10:46 test.txt -rwxrwxr-x 1 vicqa user1 522 Jul 2 10:08 somefile.py This is what I get.

Rob Adams Over a year ago

So it's a permission issue. chmod 777 test.txt and rerun your Php.

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