[SOLVED] nohup from php script served from apache for long running process

Issue

Is using exec to run nohup from a php script the right way to go if a long running action needs to run but the web request needs to return right away? I want to spawn another process from a php script that runs after the request is made.

Example:

exec ('nohup php long_running_script.php');

//Need this to return happen right away without waiting for long_running_script.php
echo json_encode(array('success' => TRUE));

Solution

If at command is available on the hosting, I prefer to use:

putenv( 'SHELL=/bin/sh' );
print `echo /usr/bin/php -q full_path_to_script.php | /usr/bin/at now 2>&1`;

I would check every command's path to be sure that everything is executed correctly:

echo exec( 'which at' );

Answered By - Mat