Executing Python From PHP - Choosing Python Version (Linux - CentOS)

Question

I want to execute python from php and I do have a script that works fine for default python interpreter. I have centos with default python 2.6.6 which is installed at /usr/bin/python and python 2.7.3 which is installed at /usr/local/bin/python2.7. You can see what is the default python version:

[root@me ~]# python -V
Python 2.6.6

[root@me ~]# python2.7 -V
Python 2.7.3

Now I want to call a simple python script from php. It should be executed in python 2.7.3 and not in python 2.6.6. But I only managed to do it with the default version of python.

PHP(test.php):

<?php
ini_set('display_errors', 'on');
$output = array();
$dir = dirname(__FILE__);
$command =  "/usr/bin/python ". $dir . "/test.py";
$command1 =  "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/ ". $dir . "/test.py";
$output = null;
exec($command, $output);
var_dump($output);
?>

Python(test.py):

#!/usr/bin/env/python2.7
import sys
print(sys.version)

OUTPUT (once I run test.php in browser):

array(2) { [0]=> string(41) "2.6.6 (r266:84292, Jan 22 2014, 09:42:36)" [1]=> 
string(38) "[GCC 4.4.7 20120313 (Red Hat 4.4.7-4)]" }

So when I use :

 exec($command, $output);

everything is fine and it shows the correct version of python (2.6.6)

However when I run test.php with:

exec($command1, $output);

I get these results (no results):

array(0) { }

Therefore there are no results, so i wonder if the python sees at all the installation 2.7.3

From command line 2.7.3 is available - for example:

[root@me ~]# python2.7
Python 2.7.3 (default, Jan  2 2015, 00:56:13)
[GCC 4.4.7 20120313 (Red Hat 4.4.7-11)] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> print "it works"
it works

So how do i fix this?

Edit:

The result of whereis -b python :python: 

/usr/bin/python /usr/bin/python2.6 /usr/lib/python2.6 /usr/lib64/python2.6
/usr/local/bin/python2.7-config /usr/local/bin/python2.7 /usr/local/lib/python2.7
/usr/include/python2.6

It might be more platform-agnostic to probe entries from whereis -b python for the right version (might need some heuristics). Better yet, of course, would be making your script compatible to all contemporary versions (such as 2.7 + 3.2 and beyond). — mario
– mario, Commented Jan 2, 2015 at 14:31
The result of whereis -b python :python: /usr/bin/python /usr/bin/python2.6 /usr/lib/python2.6 /usr/lib64/python2.6 /usr/local/bin/python2.7-config /usr/local/bin/python2.7 /usr/local/lib/python2.7 /usr/include/python2.6 — Brana
– Brana, Commented Jan 2, 2015 at 14:43

score 1 · Accepted Answer · 2015-01-02 14:47:13Z

1

There is an error in your test.py file. Executing the file in a terminal shows the following output:
```
bash: ./test.py: /usr/bin/env/python2.7: bad interpreter: Not a directory
```
To fix this, set the first line to:
```
#!/usr/bin/env python2.7
```
Note the space between env and python2.7.
You override the Python interpreter set in the file by executing /usr/bin/python instead running the script itself. You should be executing the Python script as follows:
```
ini_set('display_errors', 'on');
$output = array();
$command = dirname(__FILE__) . "/test.py";
exec($command, $output);
var_dump($output);
```
Note: remember to have the execute bit set on the Python file:
```
chmod +x test.py
```

edited Jan 2, 2015 at 14:47

answered Jan 2, 2015 at 14:26

user142162

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5 Comments

Brana Over a year ago

I added this and I am still getting error. Actually the line #!/usr/bin/env doesn't matter.

Brana Over a year ago

Did you call the file from php?

Brana Over a year ago

I tried the php script and found it doesn't work. As far as i understand this is gonna call default script, but anyways it doesn't work. I am using centos

user142162 Over a year ago

@Brana: Can you be more specific than "it doesn't work". What is the output from your PHP script?

Brana Over a year ago

out is:array(0) { } - so it doesn't work even with python 2.66

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