Why doesn't shell_exec of php work with here?

Question

I have a php script and an exe file created using c#. I want php to execute that exe file. I tried to use shell_exec command. But nothing is happening!! Then I tried echo shell_exec("dir"); and it works by displaying the info.

Why is it not executing the exe file. Few months back I have used it and it worked fine on xpdf, brc and opera.

I tried giving absolute path, I tried adding to path variable. But its not working. Interesting thing is that my exe file executes perfectly from command Line . I think something is wrong with php.

I am using Apache 2.4 and PHP 5.6

PHP Script:

<?php
echo shell_exec("Face_Trainer.exe");
?>

C# exe file:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace Face_Trainer
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Console.Beep();

        }
    }
}

I need this shell_exec to work to complete my project, everything else is fine, just this function!

Answer 1

Solution:

You are using a non interactive shell, that is why you don't hear a beep. You can check it with writing a file, if a file is created your program runs fine in your current setup.

---

Other remarks:

If you really try to execute an exe file you should use the right extension:

<?php
echo shell_exec("Face_Trainer.exe");
?>

Since that seems to be an typo, here comes another hint: I would run a batch file where you setup your environment for your application. Here an example:

@echo off
set path=%path%;x:\your\path
cd x:\dir\of\exe
Face_Trainer.exe