shell_exec

(PHP 4, PHP 5)

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.

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