Running git pull from a php script

Question

I was trying the Perfect Workflow, with Git, GitHub, and SSH, and i have everything set up, except running the command git pull from php.

When i run exec('git pull') i get:

Could not create directory '/.ssh'. Host key verification failed. fatal: The remote end hung up unexpectedly

If i run it in the terminal (as root) it works just fine, but i need this hook to work from the Post-Receive URL (Github).

If i do exec('whoami') i get apache.

It's a (dv) from mediatemple with CentOS.

you need to make the user of the git repository the same as the user the web app is running as. — Ben Lee
– Ben Lee, Commented Feb 21, 2012 at 1:41
And what is the apache user's home dir set to? ssh is getting the root directory of the machine as the home directory, and it can't write there as the apache user. (root obviously can, which is why it works) — Brian Roach
– Brian Roach, Commented Feb 21, 2012 at 1:42
Thanks for the reply guys. Ben: How can i do that? Brian: i dont know. Im not a sys/admin guy. Im running on a mediatemple's (dv) with CentOS — AFRC
– AFRC, Commented Feb 21, 2012 at 1:48
@AFRC have a look at my answer, I've provided some details. Hopefully it's enough to get you rolling. — quickshiftin
– quickshiftin, Commented Feb 21, 2012 at 5:15

Tim · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-19 22:21:16Z

9

If you want apache (the user) to be able to pull from git, you'll have to create an ssh key for apache, then add that to the read only keys on github.

The flow is something like this (tweak to your needs)

usermod -s /bin/bash apache
su apache
cd ~
ssh-keygen # work through the keygen dance (added a dash)

Upload (tilde here refers to apache's homedir) ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub to github and give apache access to whichever repos it needs to pull from.

Then you can test on the server by again su'ing to apache and running the git pull

su apache
cd ~/working-copy
git clone my-project

Once that's working you should be able to run a git pull through PHP.

edited Sep 19, 2013 at 22:21

Tim

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answered Feb 21, 2012 at 5:13

quickshiftin

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4 Comments

AFRC Over a year ago

Hi quickshiftin. Thanks. When i run the command chmod apache -s /bin/bash i get: chmod: cannot access `apache': No such file or directory . Sorry, but im really new to this server admin/unix thing.

quickshiftin Over a year ago

Whoops, that should be chmod -s /bin/bash apache. It's setting the apache user's shell to bash so that you can su to apache and test git operations before moving on to running them through PHP; I'll change it in my answer.

AFRC Over a year ago

Still get chmod: cannot access `apache': No such file or directory

quickshiftin Over a year ago

dear god; i need to stop posting so late at night!

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