Execute command via shell and return the complete output as a variable

shell_exec

(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7)

shell_exec — Execute command via shell and return the complete output as a string

Description ¶

string shell_exec ( string $cmd )

This function is identical to the backtick operator.

Parameters ¶

cmd

The command that will be executed.

Return Values ¶

The output from the executed command or NULL if an error occurred or the command produces no output.

Note:

This function can return NULL both when an error occurs or the program produces no output. It is not possible to detect execution failures using this function. exec() should be used when access to the program exit code is required.

Examples ¶

Example #1 A shell_exec() example

<?php
$output = shell_exec('ls -lart');
echo "<pre>$output</pre>";?>

Notes ¶

Note:

This function is disabled when PHP is running in safe mode.

See Also ¶

• exec() - Execute an external program
• escapeshellcmd() - Escape shell metacharacters

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