exec decompress tar file

Need to add -C

$filename = "homedir.tar";
exec("tar -C /destination xvf $filename");

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That extracted the files into the same directory as the code

May need to add the trailing slash "/destination/"

pod@box:~$ ls
a  b  c  test.tar
pod@box:~$ mkdir dest
pod@box:~$ tar -C dest/ -xvf test.tar
a
b
c
pod@box:~$ ls dest/
a  b  c



Also -C might not be supported by your version of tar.  Type " tar --help | grep '\-C'

pod@box:~$ tar --help|grep '\-C'
  -C, --directory=DIR        change to directory DIR

You can always try "--directory=DIR" as well

I got the following result:

echo exec("tar --help|grep '\-C'");
returns:
--null -T reads null-terminated names, disable -C

Is this a CLI-based script (i.e. run on the command line) or through a webserver?  The difference is pretty big, as the webserver generally runs as a different user and has different permissions... you are running some form of Linux, right?

its from my PHP coding.

using exec();

Are you going to a webpage to run this script?  Or maybe on a desktop clicking the script to run it? Or do you have a command line like:

user@server:~$ php myfile.php

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webpage, on my dedicated server.

Wherever you're going to be decompressing the file, make SURE there is write permission for whatever user owns the server process has permission to access the folder.

On my server, I have an "EE" folder underneath the public_html folder, which is where I have the test script.  I created a "rw" folder beneath that, and set those permissions:

chmod a+rwx rw/

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When the script runs, make sure to set the entire path to the tar file.  I put the tar file in the "EE" folder, where my script resides, so I did this:

<?php

chdir(getcwd() .'/rw/');

$filename = 'test.tgz';
$outputArr = array();
$returnVar = ""; 
$command = 'tar zxvf '. dirname(__FILE__) .'/test.tgz -C '. getcwd();
$output = exec($command, $outputArr, $returnVar);

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@crazedsanity
I already mentioned using the -C flag for tar, but his version does not have that.

@kgp43
type 'tar --version' and paste the output

I got the following result:

echo exec("tar --help|grep '\-C'");
returns:
--null -T reads null-terminated names, disable -C

It's weird that you got that --null explanation, especially with a -C at the end, since that is exactly what I get, but along with the -C explanation

pod@box:~$ tar --help |grep '\-C'
  -C, --directory=DIR        change to directory DIR
      --null                 -T reads null-terminated names, disable -C
pod@box:~$

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Try 'tar --directory=destination xvf $filename' instead of -C

It would be helpful to get the version as well:

user@lenny:~$ tar --version
tar (GNU tar) 1.22
Copyright (C) 2009 Free Soft...

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Update:

$status = array();
exec("tar --directory=homedir xvf $filepath", $status);
print_r($status);

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Output: Array ()

echo exec("tar --version");

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Output: "Written by John Gilmore and Jay Fenlason."

Doing echo exec("tar --version"); does not return the version number, just a "Written by John Gilmore and Jay Fenlason" text

That's not very helpful.... try this:

<?php
$output = array();
$status = null;
$cmd = "tar --version";
exec($cmd, $output, $status);

print_r($output);

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Array (
[0] => tar (GNU tar) 1.23
[1] => Copyright (C) 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
[2] => License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later .
[3] => This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
[4] => There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
[5] =>
[6] => Written by John Gilmore and Jay Fenlason. )

So, to make sure the "-C" option is available (it is on my system, which has v1.22), just change line 4:

$cmd = "tar --help";

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That will give us all the available options for the program.  I am confident that the "-C" option is there.  Once that's out of the way, we can move on with fixing the problem.

A lot of content from that --help :)

http://sdftp01.com/test/test/test.php

Indeed there is.  The important part is in index 167:

...
166 -> --backup[=CONTROL] backup before removal, choose version CONTROL
167 -> -C, --directory=DIR change to directory DIR
168 -> --exclude=PATTERN exclude files, given as a PATTERN 
...

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So the "-C" option is available, so that possible roadblock is gone.

So can you explain exactly what you're trying to do, in a way that is as detailed as possible?

There are a lot of limitations imposed on PHP for permissions.  If you're trying to overwrite a directory with an old backup of it, you probably won't be able to.  If you're just trying to extract a tarball (creating a new directory), that's a different story.

If we knew what you were trying to do with the info extracted from the tarball, it may shed some light on the problem.  There may be alternative ways to accomplish your goal that would be better, if we had the opportunity to understand that goal.

I have a .tar file which I need to extract into a folder/directory.
The .tar file and the folder is in the same directory.

That's about it.