How to run a PHP script as root
This post shows how to execute PHP scripts as a root user on Ubuntu/Linux using visudo. What do you need to run PHP as root? You will need to use …
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How to view shell_exec() errors in PHP
Let’s say you execute shell commands via a PHP script using the shell_exec() method, but you do not see any error messages related to the executed shell command. This behavior …
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How to execute shell commands via PHP
This post discusses how to execute shell commands via PHP. The ability to execute shell commands is a powerful feature and should be used carefully. As such, not all hosting …
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How to test your PHP code as the www-data user
Apart from running web applications, PHP can execute commands via a shell. But testing your shell script can be tricky, especially when running it as a different user. This post …
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Solved: cannot lock /etc/passwd; try again later
I encountered a “cannot lock /etc/passwd; try again later” issue whilst trying to create a new user on my Ubuntu 18.x server. The root cause eludes me, but I did find …
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Basic Vi (Vim) editor commands
The Vi text editor can be intimidating. But you, too, can survive Vi using this cheat sheet. While Vi and Vim isn’t technically the same thing, these commands will work …
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