Cant get php exec to work

Question

I\'ve been fighting with this for a few hours now, and I can\'t seem to work it out. tried exec(), shell_exec(), and system(). Nothing works. I have this:

ex         


        

Answer 1

According to PHP Manual for exec function:

When safe mode is enabled, you can only execute files within the safe_mode_exec_dir. For practical reasons, it is currently not allowed to have .. components in the path to the executable.

Check http://php.net/manual/en/ini.sect.safe-mode.php#ini.safe-mode-exec-dir

Also, be aware that the web server user must have permission to write in the log file.

EDIT: To turn safe mode off, check not only php.ini file but also virtual hosts specific configurations in your web server, whether it is Apache, NginX or other. If you use Plesk, look in vhosts for httpd.include, and make sure that safe_mode is set to off there as well.

Answer 2

> The last line from the result of the command. If you need to execute 
> a command and have all the data from the command passed directly back
> without any interference, use the passthru() function. To get the output
> of the executed command, be sure to set and use the output parameter.

I am not looking for output, and the last two arguments of exec() are optional. I my case what I really need is to be able to open a folder on the desktop. This exact syntax worked very well in MAMP_PRO_1.9.6, but no longer works in MAMP_PRO_2.0.5 (it's broken)

<?php
    exec("open /path/to/any/folder");   //  BROKEN in Mamp Pro 2.0.5
?>

Answer 3

To get the output, you need to pass a second parameter, or you can get the last line of output by echo'ing it.

From the PHP manual:

string exec ( string $command [, array &$output [, int &$return_var ]] )

Return Values:

The last line from the result of the command. If you need to execute a command and have all the data from the command passed directly back without any interference, use the passthru() function. To get the output of the executed command, be sure to set and use the output parameter.