The pcntl_exec() function works exactly like the standard (unix-style) exec() function. It differs from the regular PHP exec() function in that the process calling the pcntl_exec() is replaced with the process that gets called. This is the ideal method for creating children. In a simple example (that does no error checking):
switch (pcntl_fork()) {
case 0:
$cmd = "/path/to/command";
$args = array("arg1", "arg2");
pcntl_exec($cmd, $args);
// the child will only reach this point on exec failure,
// because execution shifts to the pcntl_exec()ed command
exit(0);
default:
break;
}
// parent continues
echo "I am the parent";
--
since this is not being executed through a shell, you must provide the exact path from the filesystem root. Look at the execve() man page for more information.
