Executing shell commands with PHP webpage?

ElectusUnum

Hello, I'm trying to execute the command line version of AppleScript on Mac OS X 10.28 with PHP 4.3.3. I use this command:
system('osascript applescript.ascript');

I've also tried passthru,exec, and shell_exec. For some reason the applescript will not run (it pauses iTunes) unless I'm executing using PHP CLI. If I try to do it with a web page it simply doesn't work. Any ideas what's wrong?

dalecosp

In order to use shell commands, the user must have a shell.

Does your web server user have a shell?

Even more importantly, have you considered the security implications of giving him one?

ElectusUnum

This script will only be served on a local network of a few computers, and it is secure from the outside so I'm not worried about security issues. My web server runs as its own user, how do I go about giving it a shell?

dalecosp

Hmm, not sure for you.

I hear OSX is basically sitting over a BSD-Unix kernel or somesuch. Is there a password file?

In *BSD it's /etc/passwd and /etc/master.passwd ....

ElectusUnum

OS X is based around BSD, if you can tell me how its done in Unix I can probably figure it out from there. The major difference I believe is that the password file is contained inside apples NetInfo DB. Either way, I'm sure I can apply the unix process to my Mac.

dalecosp

OK, in BSD, generally the web user is "www", "nobody", or "daemon". A standard install will put something like this into /etc/master.passwd

www:*:80:80::0:0:World Wide Web Owner:/nonexistent:/sbin/nologin

The entry after the last colon is the shell ... /sbin/nologin is just a script that echoes "this account is not currently available" and exits status 1.

So, you change /sbin/nologin to a valid shell and rebuild the passwd db. In 'Nix, that's pwd_mkdb, IIRC.

HTH,