file deletion in the server side

lsobrino

hi guys...

this problem is related to the situation regarding the file download to the client... here we go...

i created a temp mysql table and then dumped its contents to a text file using a "select into outfile" statement. you have to tell mysql where you want to place the txt file, and i choosed the "/tmp" directory since almost every user can access it without any problems. the file is then created (by the user "mysql" and with the group "mysql").

i then can downlaod the file, after asking the user the path and the name... so far it's gorgeous... but... :o(

now, i need to get rid of the file in the server side for future use of the process. i read and found out php does not have a delete method; instead i have tried using exec() and system(), but none of those seem to work! the file remains in place... :o(

i'm issuing the commands with the following syntax:

$delete = system("rm /tmp/filename.ext");
or
$delete = exec("rm /tmp/filename.ext");

could anyone please tell me what could possibly be wrong or how could i get rid of that file?

thanks! :o)

stolzyboy

how about the magical, mystical, unlink()

lsobrino

stolzyboy:

i forgot to mention i tried it yesterday as well with the same result. the file is not being deleted! :o(

what coulkd be wrong? do you think the directory in which the file resides has anything to do with it?

stolzyboy

does apache have read and write access to the directory, try

chmod -R 777 directoryname

that will ensure that anyone can delete from that directory

lsobrino

the /tmp directory has all the permissions on it! (drwxrwxrwt); once the file is created by the mysql dump, the file has "rw-rw-rw-", but the owner is mysql and the group is mysql.

i'm not sure if the problem might be that the process that is trying to delete the file is a php one instead of a mysql one, and therefore the process has no permits on that file.

if this were the problem, how could i fix it? 🙁

kevinsequeira

nope, doesnt matter what type of file it is , it should be able to delete it
could u post the code ure using

EDIT : doesnt php run under user and group apache usually ?

reg
kevin

lsobrino

this is the contents of the php file i'm using to do the file transfer and the deletion. the transfer works ok but the deletion has never worked (i've used exce(), system() and unlink()):

<?php
header("Content-type: text/plain");
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=report.csv");
readfile('/home/mysql/report.csv');
// delete the original file
unlink("/home/mysql/report.csv");
?>

right now i created a file using the "mysql" user, and then tried to delete it with another user and did not let me. perhaps this is the problem... :o(

another thought... should i be doing the deletion in the same file? or perhaps i should do the transfer first and create a separate php file to do the deletion?

kevinsequeira

well i guess u have to try both options,

since user is mysql it may noy let u delete with user apache and u might want to try deleting in another page

reg
kevin

lsobrino

try to do a "su" command to "become" mysql and delete the file? i'm not sure since this operation requires to enter a password and i'm not sure if i can do all this using exec() or system(), and if so, how do i do the password part of the su command? 🙁

HalfaBee

Why don't you try creating the file in your own server space.
You can probably delete it then.

HalfaBee