execute php script in command line from web page

Question

I'm green at running php in the command line, and need to find a way to execute a php script by loading a web page in my browser. I don't need any return values, but only need to make the script to run/execute. So, once "page.php" is loaded in the browser, a script which is inside page.php will begin running in terminal/cli.

I've tried doing this by adding the line <?php exec('php script.php') ?>, but it doesn't work. Is this possible?

UPDATE:

Provide some code to give insight/clarity on my setup to help with testing. Can the script be ran by putting it in the body like below, or does it need to be called explicitly somehow?

<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Web Page</title>
<link href="style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
<?php include_once 'check_login_status.php'; ?>
</head>
<body>
<?php exec('php /Applications/XAMPP/htdocs/site_root/script_to_run.php'); ?>
<div id = "wrapper">
    <div id = "nav"><?php include_once 'navigation.php'; ?></div>
    <div id = "top"><?php include_once 'top.php'; ?></div>
    <div id = "main"></div>
</div>
</body>
</html>

Certainly possible, though it requires php to be installed and correctly configured for CLI usage. The question is: why such approach? Why not execute the additional script in an additional http request and all is fine? Either by means of ajax, so triggered from the client side or, even easier: by making a sub request in background to the own server. — arkascha
– arkascha, Commented Jun 14, 2015 at 18:30
BTW: your issue with your exec() call is the path to the script which is unknown to the php interpreter started on CLI, since it (typically) will not start with the working directory you apparently expect. — arkascha
– arkascha, Commented Jun 14, 2015 at 18:31
That makes sense by adding the path to the file. I'm using my macbook and it has php natively in Yosemite. So if I open terminal and run php /path/script.php it works fine. I'm just having trouble running it as described above. I haven't had time with using ajax, and just practicing new things with php basically. — JRW2252
– JRW2252, Commented Jun 14, 2015 at 18:40
just wanted to mention that I noticed I was missing a semi-colon at the end of the <?php exec(path/script.php); ?>. I changed it, but it's still not executing for some reason. I also should have mentioned that it's running on localhost in XAMPP. — JRW2252
– JRW2252, Commented Jun 14, 2015 at 19:39

rjdown · Accepted Answer · 2015-06-14 18:33:01Z

3

You have to understand that exec doesn't have access to all the usual environment variables that would be in, for example, an SSH prompt. You need to provide the full path to PHP in your command. Probably something like

<?php exec('/usr/bin/php script.php'); ?>

answered Jun 14, 2015 at 18:33

rjdown

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