How to run a cron job without using exec or system function in PHP?

Question

Gist

I am trying to run a cron job in PHP. But the exec and system functions didn't work. (Because the server administrator doesn't allow me to use these two functions due to the security reasons) However, I still need to use PHP to run it, because the running time is decided by the formula and it's uncertain. As a result, how can I run the cron job without using exec or system function in PHP?

My thought

The only way I have come up with is adding the cron job via the cPanel, which is set to “once per minute.” That means setup a cron job for every minute to check the target PHP page whether it has anything to do at that moment.

Issue

There's a possible issue if it always checks the page every minute per day, won't it damage the host? (Maybe it will cause a damage to CPU or maybe occupy the memory space, etc.) If so, how to improve it?

Answer 1

You can call a bash script containing a call to PHP-CLI and then the file:

#!/usr/bin/php    

    /path/to/my/php/file.php

Go to the command line of the server and type "which php". Replace /usr/bin/php above with that which is returned. Then you call this bash script in your CRON.

Answer 2

As you say you have a cpanel server, im guessing its a linux box. You run a cronjob from a linux box by typing crontab -e and then to run a php script. */5 * * * * /usr/bin/php /path/to/file.php to un it every 5 minutes.