Using ImageMagick in php

nca

Hi, I just moved my website to another webserver, and it is setup so that scripts and myself cannot have shell access. Well I have a php script that resizes uploaded images, and then saves them, and it does not work at all on the new server. I am not for sure exactly the syntax for imagemagick, but I do wonder what this line means in the php script that uses imagemagick...
Code:
$res = shell_exec($cmd);

Does shell_exec mean it is trying to use shell access? If so that is my problem. Is there another way to execute a imagemagick command without using shell_exec?

Thanks for any help! It is really appreciated!

drew010

hi, shell_exec shouldnt require shell access but the new host may disable it or you dont have proper permissions. also its possible that they dont have gd installed.
one way to test if shell_exec works is just do this in an indiviual script:
$res = shell_exec("echo hi");
echo $res;

if you get 'hi' displayed in the browser shell_exec works and they dont have imagemagick installed, otherwise you cant use shell_exec. you may then try exec.
also make a script and in it put only
<?php phpinfo(); ?>
this will display the properties of php. there you can see if gd is installed and configured. if its not, then you are out of luck.

also. if shell_exec works, try shell_exec("whereis imagemagick");
shell_exec("whereis mogrify");
to see if they are installed.

nca

Ok I was able to get a "hi" printed, so shell_exec does work...
It was able to find mogrify, but not imagemagick 🙁
What exactly is mogrify? and GD?

drew010

mogrify is used for transforming images, like resizing, scaling, color rotation...
gd is for creating images dynamically.
i guess you are out of luck for having your program work unless you can talk to host into installing gd for you.

asdf072

Anyone still suffering, always give an absolute path for executing shell commands through PHP.
$convert = "/opt/local/bin/convert";
$command = "$convert big.jpg -resize 60x60 small.jpg";
$res = shell_exec($command);

For some reason, PHP won't find the command, even if you can su webuser in the terminal and can find it. It's a good security precaution as well.