How about putting
exit
on the last line of your batch file?
Main Topics
Browse All Topics
Loading Advertisement...
Question
Exec randomly hangs / stalls
My environment is:
- PHP 4.3.10
- Apache 2.0.53
- Windows 2000 Server
- The Apache service is configured to run as "Local System account" with "Allow service to Interact with desktop" turned ON
I have a script that runs several commands via the exec() function. The script basically does something like this:
--------------------------
exec("MOVE someFiles tempDir");
exec("DIR tempDir /some switches",$CaptureDirOutpu
$fp = fopen("newBatchFile.bat","
fwrite($fp,"Some \r\n");
fwrite($fp,"Complex \r\n");
fwrite($fp,"Commands \r\n");
fwrite($fp,"exit \r\n");
fclose($fp);
exec("newBatchFile.bat");
exec("MOVE resultingFiles finalDir");
--------------------------
So there are 4 exec() calls in there. For about a week, this worked perfectly. When we ran the script, we could see the shells being opened and closed on the desktop. The script runs on a server that is nothing more than a little-used database server, so there have been no changes made to the server, really.
Suddenly, these same exec() calls started to hang. We can see the first shell window open (to move files), and it DOES execute the program (the files get moved), but then the shell just stays open and doesn't close down.
Again, nothing has changed that would affect the call. Sometimes the filename might be 123321.xml, and sometimes it will be 1439894.xml, or something like that. And the fact that the command actually runs (for instance, an exec("MOVE files newdir") call WILL actually move the files), means that it's something else.
The only other odd thing I've noticed is that I have 2 Apache.exe processes in my Task Manager - the first is taking up about 25,000k of memory, the second is just under 7,000k. But after restarting Apache, it still seems to create 2 processes (they just don't use as much memory yet).
Any ideas?
- Jonathan
This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.
Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get
Instant Access to this Solution
- Plus...
- 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
- Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
- Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
- Never be left without tech help again
Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.
- "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
- "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
- "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.
See what Experts Exchange can do for you.
Got a question?
We've got the answer.
Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.
Need individual assistance?
Our experts are ready to help.
If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.
Want to learn from the best?
Read articles from industry experts.
Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.
Working on a long term project?
Store your work and research.
Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.
Access the answers to your technology questions today.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?
Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.
Trusted by the world's most respected brands.
Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.
Try it out and discover for yourself.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Free Tech Articles
-
WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
-
SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
-
Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
-
Create a Win7 Gadget
This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
-
Outlook continually prompting for username and password
There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
-
Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...
Cloud Class Webinars
- Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
- Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
- IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
- Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
- Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
- How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...
Join the Community
Give a Little. Get a Lot.
Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.
Answers
Hi Marcel,
The main application IS a web application (database-driven). There is just one part of the application that uses this set of exec() calls. I know it is odd to use exec() for some simple functions, which is why I already rewrote the routine to use internal PHP functions whenever possible, but I did not want to add that and make my original question more confusing.
The batch file is the only exec() call left, but even it hangs sometimes. It seems to run okay for a bit after I restart Apache, but eventually it will get to the point of hanging again. Unfortunately, there is no way around this last exec() call.
matt_mcswain - I already have exit on the last line of my batch file, but it sometimes hangs on the 2nd or 3rd line of the batch file, so it never even gets to the exit command.
I have a strong feeling this problem is tied to resources that are not being freed up, but I'm not sure where to start looking to track down Apache resource leaks.
- Jonathan
I think the problem remains that apache/php is waiting for the batch-file to quit, and return a value. I think you don't want apache to be the parent-process of theis batch-file either. So maybe try starting it up with a pipe, directing your output to a file. This should return the value for TRUE back to php, and have the batch-script running on its own. If this doesn't work you might want to try through COM-objects. Something like:
<?
$WshShell = new COM("WScript.Shell");
$oExec = $WshShell->Run("newBatchFi
?>
If it doesn't like that, you can try making a shortcut (*.lnk file) to the script and run that one...
3 Ways to Join
Business Accounts
- Perfect for organizations
- Multiple users
- Save over 36%
- Create a Business Account
Answer for Membership
- Earn free access
- Showcase your knowledge
- No credit card required
- Sign Up to Answer
Loading Advertisement...
by: _Marcel_Posted on 2005-04-01 at 00:47:50ID: 13679054
First of all a small comment: PHP is a wonderful language for creating web-applications, and it can be used in other situations. I would not recommend using PHP for scripts like these, although it might work al right. But this is just a minor note.
Your question regarding the apache processes: this is how apache works. Remember it is not a fully threaded webserver. For every process that has to run, it creates a child-process. Apache will make sure enough child-processes are ready for accepting calls. You could actually influence this behaviour in the httpd.conf. But this all is normal behaviour. If you see a process that consumes more memory/cpu it is because a script is running in that process and that script is consuming that.
Another thing is that I find it odd to use exec calls to move files. To move a file using php you can simply use the rename() function. For reading directories or getting information about files php also has functions like scandir() and stat(). In this way you can circumvent executing command and not easily getting the return codes back to PHP. I have experienced problems with windows concerning this before. If you incorporate your last move command in your batch file (wich shouldn't be that hard), you could even run the created batch-file in background mode. You won't need to be concerned about receiving the return code then in order to perform the complete steps.