How can I execute a shell script from an html link?

Shell Programming and Scripting
1

I want to execute a shell script when clicking on an html link. I want the output of the script to be shown on the webpage. Whats the best way to achieve this?

2

Hi.

The simplest way is probably just to put the script into your cgi-bin directory.

You need something like this at the top of your script (after the shebang, but before echo�ng anything else), otherwise you'll get a 500 error.

#!/bin/bash
echo "Content-type: text/html"
echo

and then have a link to the script in your web page:
i.e.

<a href="/cgi-bin/myScript.sh">Run Script</a>
3

Not an expert but...

This sounds like a server-side issue
and you might want to consider either
perl, python or php.

A.

4

You don't need any of those things to execute a shell script from a Web Page.

So long as you send the right header information, you could write it in anything.

Besides, it wasn't an issue, only a question.

S.

5

Thanks for the information guys.

6

Hey guys, so I basically wrote a simple script that ssh's into different machines and grabs some info. However, the script isn't instantaneous with the output and it seems to give me a blank screen when I execute from a link.

My question is how can I make apache refresh the page, or wait till the script finishes, then display the output?

7

You can use :

<META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh"CONTENT="10; URL=http://abcde.com">

It will refresh to URL every 10 seconds