Using exec() to run a php file from a php file fails

Question

I intent to have one PHP file run another PHP file. The second file has a rather long runtime. That's why I do not simply use include or require. Instead I use the following operation.

exec('php5 /full/path/to/the/other/file.php > /dev/null 2> /dev/null < /dev/null &');

But instead of running the intended file, the file is instead calling itself again, thery calling itself again, and so on, until I remove the exec() command from the file.

If I take the content of the exec() command and run it on the command line, it works as intended.

What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

Try putting the full path of your php5 execulatable (whereis php5). exec() doesn't run in the same environment that you have when you're at a shell, so the PATH environment variable might not have the path of php5 in it.