Enable shell_exec() on internal cPanel PHP (for cPanel plugin)

I'm developing a simple cPanel plugin using LivePHP that runs a couple of bash commands via shell_exec().

When I run it I get this error ...

PHP:

Warning: shell_exec() has been disabled for security reasons in /usr/local/cpanel/base/frontend/x3/mypluginname/myfilename.livephp on line x

/usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/etc/php.ini has this setting ...

PHP:

disable_functions    = ;

So I can't work out why the plugin says that shell_exec() has been disabled.

Which php.ini file does LivePHP use?

 

I tried to find the php.ini file via phpinfo(), but got the error ...

PHP:

Warning: phpinfo() has been disabled for security reasons in /usr/local/cpanel/base/frontend/x3/mypluginname/phpinfo.livephp on line x

 

Thanks for that, I'd just done a search for all php.ini files on the server and was working my way through all the likely ones.

 

Thanks for the offer.

The Bash stuff is really simple - it's just 2 lines to fix file and folder permissions inside the public_html folder to make them compatible with suPHP (644/755) I've been running the commands manually for years but I just wanted to create a cPanel plugin so that customers can just click a button and fix the permissions themselves.

I've almost finished it.

 

The part I find hardest is getting my mind around how the cPanel integration works.

 

It's just dawned on me that /usr/local/lib/php.ini is used by the default PHP configuration that customers web sites use - so I've had to disable shell_exec() again which means my plugin won't work.

I assumed LivePHP would have used cpsrvd rather than the public web server.

Looks like I'll have to start from scratch and not use LivePHP.

 

OK, I've re-written my plugin using the old method instead of LivePHP.

According to CpanelPhp < SoftwareDevelopmentKit < TWiki the relevant php.ini is /usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/etc or /var/cpanel/3rdparty/etc

(In my case it's /usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/etc)

This php.ini contains

PHP:

disable_functions    = ; 

But I'm still getting ...

PHP:

Warning: shell_exec() has been disabled for security reasons in /tmp/cpanel_phpengine.1318648444.24620AVb0p9xNbT on line 150

So back to my original question - what do I have to do to enable shell_exec() on cPanel's custom PHP binary?

 

OK here's the answer ...

cPanel/WHM was incorrectly using the public php.ini (/usr/local/lib/php.ini) instead of /usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/etc/php.ini.

I fixed the problem by running /scripts/makecpphp

 

Thanks Brian

I've installed the plugin on 3 servers so far and found the same situation on each one.

Creating /var/cpanel/usecpphp is a lot quicker than running /scripts/makecpphp, so I'll use that on the rest.