system-wide setting for php exec() search path

I run some PHP websites on a FreeBSD server which was recently updated to PHP 5.2.17, after which exec("something") stopped working, and I was required to write exec("/full/path/something").

Since the scripts run on different machines where executables are in different places writing full paths is not acceptable.

Running passthru("set") from PHP reveals the PATH v开发者_如何学Goariable (for user "www") to be:

PATH=/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin

I need PATH to point to the PHP safe_mode_exec_dir directory:

PATH=/usr/phpsafe_bin

Running putenv("PATH=/usr/phpsafe_bin") in PHP resolves the problem, but I need a solution that fixes the problem on a global level for all PHP scripts running on this machine, in other words changing php.ini, Apache settings, or other system settings.

Hope someone can provide a good solution to this, maybe even an explanation why this changed in the PHP update. There seems to be no PHP documentation on how the search path for exec() and friends is determined.

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It's not a pleasant solution, but it's all I could think of. Create a script file that does the change you've suggested and then use the "auto_prepend_file" in php.ini or .htaccess to include this script. Then in effect every php script that is run will have this file run before it gets executed and thus your directory is changed.

Caution: You need to be very careful using this since any errors, extra white space etc in the prepend script can break whole pages, existing features such as download scripts, or any number of unknown effects.

Read More: http://php.net/manual/en/ini.core.php