4

I found this code somewhere, that can execute Python scripts from PHP.

I've installed apache2 on the Pi and I'm able to access the PHP script. But when I press the HTML buttons, nothing happens! :(

When I execute the python script via SSH, it works.. so theres nothing wrong with the python scripts I think.

I'm using WebIOPi to monitor the status of the GPIO pins.

Whats the mistake?

PS: I know that this may not be a very safe approach to control the GPIO. I just wanna give it a try though :)

TIA.

<html>
<head>
<?php 
if (isset($_POST['RedON']))
{
exec('sudo python /var/www/red_on.py');
}
if (isset($_POST['RedOFF']))
{
exec('sudo python /var/www/red_off.py');
}
if (isset($_POST['YellowON']))
{
exec('sudo python /var/www/gpio/yellow_on.py');
}
if (isset($_POST['YellowOFF']))
{
exec('sudo python /var/www/gpio/yellow_off.py');
}
if (isset($_POST['GreenON']))
{
exec('sudo python /var/www/gpio/green_on.py');
}
if (isset($_POST['GreenOFF']))
{
exec('sudo python /var/www/gpio/green_off.py');
}
?>

  <title></title>
</head>
<body>
<form method="post">
  <table
 style="width: 75%; text-align: left; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"
 border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
    <tbody>
      <tr>
        <td style="text-align: center;">Turn LED on</td>
        <td style="text-align: center;">Turn LED off</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td style="text-align: center;"><button name="RedON">Red On</button></td>
    <td style="text-align: center;"><button name="RedOFF">Red Off</button></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td style="text-align: center;"><button name="YellowON">Yellow On</button></td>
    <td style="text-align: center;"><button name="YellowOFF">Yellow Off</button></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td style="text-align: center;"><button name="GreenON">Green On</button></td>
    <td style="text-align: center;"><button name="GreenOFF">Green Off</button></td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
  </table>
</form>
</body>
</html>
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1
  • I understand that this is a permission issue. Any suggestions to resolve the same is much appreciated :)
    – Krish
    May 11, 2013 at 6:21

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
4

The command sudo python XYZ will be execute as the apache user. You'll need to add this user to your sudoers file.

sudo echo "apache ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL" >> /etc/sudoers

Replace "apache" with your systems apache username (may be "www-data", "httpd" or "www" on some systems.)

Suggestion

Why use Apache or PHP at all? SimpleHTTPServer is extremely simple to set-up. You can have this server handle your python scripts, while running with super-user privileges.

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1
  • Worked! Thanks. The username was www-data in my case. :) And yeah, Apache2 is heavy! Thanks for the suggestion too.
    – Krish
    May 13, 2013 at 18:57
5

sudo python /var/www/red_on.py most probably asks for a sudo password, which is not provided anywhere, and the command fails.

you may try echo <password> | sudo -S ..., however I haven't checked if output redirect works well in the PHP exec().

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1
  • 1
    This will work. From man pages, you'll need to run sudo with this -S switch to read password from stdin. echo <password> | sudo -S ...
    – emcconville
    May 13, 2013 at 18:52
1

Try running the following commands

chown root:root ./script
chmod 4775 ./script
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