Execute PHP via cron - No Input file specified

Question

I'm using the following command to execute a PHP file via cron

php -q /home/seilings/public_html/dvd/cron/mailer.php

The problem is that I Have a file that's included in the execution that determines which config to load.... such as the following:

if (!strstr(getenv('HTTP_HOST'), ".com")) {
    $config["mode"] = "local";
} else {
    $config["mode"] = "live";
}

The cron is loading the LOCAL config when it should be loading the LIVE config. I've tried using the http:// URL to the file instead of the absolute path but it didn't find the file. Do I need to change the command to use a URL within it?

Answer 1

Use this php_sapi_name() to check if the script was called on commandline:

if (php_sapi_name() === 'cli' OR !strstr(getenv('HTTP_HOST'), ".com")) {
    $config["mode"] = "local";
} else {
    $config["mode"] = "live";
}

If you want to use "live" on the commandline use this code:

if (php_sapi_name() === 'cli' OR strstr(getenv('HTTP_HOST'), ".com")) {
    $config["mode"] = "live";
} else {
    $config["mode"] = "local";
}

Answer 2

When you run the php with cron it is very likely that then environment variable 'HTTP_HOST' will not be set (or null) and when null is given to strstr function, strstr returns false that is why the mode is set to "local".

Answer 3

You're probably getting a different set of environment variables when you execute your command via cron, versus the command line. You might need to write a wrapper script that sets the environment up the way you want it before running your PHP command.

Answer 4

Another simple solution:

cron:

php -q /home/seilings/public_html/dvd/cron/mailer.php local

php:

if (!empty($argv[0])) {
    $config["mode"] = "local";
} else {
    $config["mode"] = "live";
}

Answer 5

Enviroment variable such as HTTP_HOST exists only when you're running php scrints under web server. But you can add it manually in your crontab config:

## somewhere in crontab config
HTTP_HOST=somthing.com
15 * * * * /path/to/your/script > /dev/null 2>&1

This will enable your script to think that it's running on production enviroment.

Answer 6

If you're feeling lazy and do not feel like making sure all those env variables work you might want to try running with cron using:

lynx -dump http://url.to.your.script > /dev/null