shell_exec
(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)
shell_exec — Execute command via shell and return the complete output as a string
Description
This function is identical to the deprecated backtick operator.
Note:
On Windows, the underlying pipe is opened in text mode which can cause the
function to fail for binary output. Consider to use popen()
instead for such cases.
Parameters
command-
The command that will be executed.
Return Values
A string containing the output from the executed command, false if the pipe
cannot be established or null if an error occurs 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.
Errors/Exceptions
An E_WARNING level error is generated
when the pipe cannot be established.
Examples
Example #1 A shell_exec() example
<?php
$output = shell_exec('ls -lart');
echo "<pre>$output</pre>";
?>
proc_terminate
Program execution Functions