Is there a way to execute php code in a sandbox from within php

Question

I want to execute a php-script from php that will use different constants and different versions of classes that are already defined.

Is there a sandbox php_module where i could just:

sandbox('script.php'); // run in a new php environment

instead of

include('script.php'); // run in the same environment

Or is proc_open() the only option?

PS: The script isn't accessible through the web, so fopen('http://host/script.php') is not an option.

Answer 1

There is runkit, but you may find it simpler to just call the script over the command line (Use shell_exec), if you don't need any interaction between the master and child processes.

Answer 2

Also, you should look at the backtick operator:

$sOutput = `php script_to_run.php`;

This will allow you to inspect the output from the script you are running. However, note that the script will be run with the privileges you have, but you can circumvent this by using sudo on Linux.

This approach also assumes that you have the PHP CLI installed, which is not always the case.