Python 3.4 subprocess FileNotFoundError WinError 2

Question

I'm using Python 3.4, and I'm trying to run the most simple command: subprocess.call(["dir"]) .

If I run subprocess.call(["dir"]) I get the following - FileNotFoundError: [WinError 2] The system cannot find the file specified .

How can I fix this? I tried installing subprocess with pip , but it seems to be impossible.

Answer 1

You might want to not use shell=True as it is a security risk.

Also, you might want to get the result of subprocess.call, error messages and exit code to handle errors.

At last, always use a timeout on commands so your program won't get stuck (or thread them).

Here's a quick and dirty version you can use

import os
import subprocess

# Your command
command = 'dir'

# Forge your command using an absolute path
shell_command = '"%s" /c %s' % (os.path.join(os.environ['SYSTEMROOT'], 'system32', 'cmd.exe'), command)
try:
    # Execute the command with a timeout, and redirct error messages to your output
    output = subprocess.check_output(shell_command, timeout=10, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT, shell=False, universal_newlines=True)
    exit_code = 0
# Handle possible errors and get exit_code
except subprocess.CalledProcessError as exc:
    output = ""
    exit_code = exc.returncode

# Show results
print('[%s] finished with exit code %s\nResult was\n\n%s' % (command, exit_code, output))