php command line

"no input file specified"

[jamie]

apparently this is a bug with newer versions of php, it misses the env SCRIPT_FILENAME when used from command line

see php.net commandline features [es2.php.net]

my crontab looks like:
/opt/bin/php -q /var/www/htdocs/scripts/test.php

when i run the script from the /var/www/htdocs/scripts directory it runs fine:

% /opt/bin/php -q test.php

but when i use the full path to the script in the cron job, it exits with the error message "no input file specified".

apparently i need to add the SCRIPT_FILENAME var to the env variables - does anyone know how to do this? or should i simply install an older version of php as cgi?

many thanks

[pete_m]

Have you tried omitting the -q and just passing the filename, like:

/opt/bin/php /var/www/htdocs/scripts/test.php

[jamie]

hi pete,

no unfortunately doesn't work. have recompiled using --enable-discard-path (recommended somewhere) but still no joy.

the script works fine without the path, but with the full path it still returns same input file error :-(

will keep looking

[pete_m]

Another option is to make the php file executable in itself. All you need to do is add the following line to the top of the file:

#!/opt/bin/php

so that the file looks like

#!/opt/bin/php
<?php
..blah

and set execute permissions on that file for the relevant user (i.e. whichever user owns the crontab).

[jamie]

hi pete,

thanks for input, but that idea desn't work either. this is getting weirder and weirder.

sometimes using the full path works and then 1 minute later for no apparent reason it does not work. i am not changing anything between tries.

it still will not work consistently when i use the full path.

hmmmm

[pete_m]

Just to clarify:

If you make the php script executable, then you don't need to invoke the php parser directly.

In other words, your line in the crontab can just read:

/var/www/htdocs/scripts/test.php

If the script has execute permissions set, then the server will see the first line (#!/opt/bin/php) and use this program to execute the remainder of the script.

You should test that the test.php script is executable by just running it from the command line:

% /var/www/htdocs/scripts/test.php

Apologies if you already know this!

[jamie]

hi pete,

thanks for your step by step guide.

i have done as you say and when i run ./test.php it returns "bad interpreter: no such file or directory"

the shebang line is identical to another php script (with a simple mail() function) which works fine ./testmail.php

the script works perfectly if called in the browser.

i think we are getting somewhere ;)

[pete_m]

Hi Jamie

Off the top of my head there are a couple of reasons why the test.php script isn't working.

1 - The shebang line should have *no spaces* in it, and should point to the php interpreter

2 - You may have created the script on a Windows machine, and the text file has Windows line breaks ("\r\n"). Unix line breaks have a different format ("\n").
Open the the test.php file in a unix text editor, and replace those linebreaks. Alternatively, use a Windows text editor like Textpad and save test.php as Unix format.

[jamie]

pete, thanks so much for your patience :-)

i finally got it working. i opened it up in vi and redid the shebang line and am now simply calling it using the /fullpath/to/script.php in the cron job. working a treat.

(at last ;)

cheers

[pete_m]

No problems, glad you got it working.