Question

I am running a Java program on a web server and passing it arguments that come from PHP variables, and I’m running into a bit of a confusing issue. A Java program I am using seems to exhibit different behavior when I run it from shell and run it from shell_exec() in with PHP.

If I use a tool like Putty to execute the program from command line like so:

ksh runexample.ksh ClassName methodName

It runs properly, meaning the program sends a request and after about 20 seconds receives a response from gateway servers it connects to. I am then able to see that the communication was successful by seeing the resulting record in an outside database.

Now the issue arises when I execute this program from a PHP script by using.

shell_exec('path/ssh [e-mail].x "cd /path/path/examples/ ksh runexample.ksh ClassName methodName;')

If I load this PHP script, and var_dump() the output, the program seems to load; but it gives me a short generic message from the Java program like “program running in connected mode etc etc”, and doesn’t output the usual response. The PHP script loads a page almost instantly with this output. Also, no record is created in the outside database.

I have set_time_limit(0) in the script, but could this issue be due to shell_exec() somehow timing out before the request/response in the Java program is complete?

Thanks for any insight/similar experiences, I appreciate the help!

Answer 1

It could be down to the fact that there is no (or another) .profile file loaded when running the application the way you do.

I’ve done something quite similar to what you seem to be be doing here, and ended up posting this question here, as a follow-up to this question both of which might be of use to you now.