Run PHP from the command line

Question

I have installed XAMPP v1.8.3 for my PHP development. I am new to Ubuntu, so I don't know how to set environment variable for PHP which is located at /opt/lampp/bin/php.

I can run PHP scripts from localhost just fine, but I wanted to run them from the command line as well.

I want to set this variable for every user, since I am the only one who uses this system.

Solution 1

Environment variables are set in /etc/environment. You will find the $PATH variable in this file. This variable stores the path to binaries in various locations.

To add /opt/lampp/bin to the location searched for binary files, just append this path preceded by a : to the path variable.

For example, if the $PATH variable was:

/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games

add /opt/lampp/bin to the end of it, so that it becomes:

/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/opt/lampp/bin

After doing this, do a source /etc/environment.

Solution 2

To open an interactive php shell, just type in a terminal:

php -a

As for opening a file, just:

php filename.php

Solution 3

As an alternative to /opt/lampp/bin/php, to run a php script from the command line, you just need to install php5-cli:

sudo apt-get install php5-cli

And run your script with:

php myscript.php

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editor's note: depending on your version, you may need to install php7.0-cli etc instead

Comments

[jobin]

@sud_the_devil: Just edited my answer.

[sud_the_devil]

I opened the file by issuing sudo subl /opt/lampp/bin/php and then appended the location as you asked me to do . Here's the link to the opened file. PATH Do I need to restart my system after that??

[jobin]

No, you don't need to restart your system. Can you paste the output of echo $PATH after you have added the path and done a source /etc/environment and ls /opt/lampp/bin/php?

[sud_the_devil]

This is the output of echo $PATH: /usr/lib/lightdm/lightdm:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr‌​/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin‌​:/bin:/usr/games:/us‌​r/local/games And this is the output of ls /opt/lampp/bin/php: /opt/lampp/bin/php

[Srihari]

@sud_the_devil you are required to edit the environment file and not the php executable. Your command should be sudo subl /etc/environment

[Radu Rădeanu]

@sud_the_devil Add only /opt/lampp/bin, not /opt/lampp/bin/php which is the executable file.

[sud_the_devil]

@ Srihari @RaduRădeanu Thank you guys, my bad ... It works now

[Wutaz]

php5-cli is in a different package.

[Radu Rădeanu]

The OP problem is: I don't know how to set environment variable for php which is located at /opt/lampp/bin/php .

[e-sushi]

@Wutaz On what planet? (hint)

[Martin Thoma]

@darent Thanks. This was the first search result I got from Google and php -a was exactly what I looked for.

[Garri Sumalapao Farol]

Doesn't work. Instead of execution a script it just prints file content like cat does

[Garri Sumalapao Farol]

No, wrong.It just prints file content like cat does. No execution

[RN Kushwaha]

@Green It seems that you don't have proper set up of php on your system.

[Garri Sumalapao Farol]

It seems that you have to type -f between php and filename to make it work => php -f file.php