Run this PHP file via Cron Job

Question

Here is the script:

---

<?php
//Create back files?
define('CREATE_BACKUPS', FALSE);

if (!is_dir($argv[1]))
{
   echo "You must enter a valid path such as /home/apresv/public_html or apresv/public_html for this script to function.\n";
   exit;
}

//Search the path for all php files, opening each one, and checking to see if it's infected

//First, get an array list of all valid .php files.


$files = listdir($argv[1]);
foreach ($files as $filename)
{
   //We only need to check php files, so we add that here
   if (file_extension($filename) == 'php')
   {
      //This is a php file so lets check it to see if it's infected.
      $contents = file_get_contents($filename);
      $backup = $contents;

      //There will always be 2 opening tags in an infected file and since the hack is always at the top, it's easiest to test for this right away.
      $test = between('<?php', '<?php', $contents);

      //This particular hack likes to use toolbarqueries so we test to see if our chunk is an infected chunk.  If your website uses this url somehow, then add extra if statements as necessary.
      if (after('toolbarqueries', $test))
      {
         //This chunk is infected.  So lets replace it and resave the file.
         $contents = str_replace('<?php'.$test.'<?php', '<?php', $contents);

         //Now save it! Woohoo!
         file_put_contents($filename, $contents);
         if (CREATE_BACKUPS)
         {
            file_put_contents($filename.'.orig', $backup);
         }

         echo "$filename has been cleaned.\n";
      }
   }
}

function after ($this, $inthat)
    {
        if (!is_bool(strpos($inthat, $this)))
        return substr($inthat, strpos($inthat,$this)+strlen($this));
    };

    function after_last ($this, $inthat)
    {
        if (!is_bool(strrevpos($inthat, $this)))
        return substr($inthat, strrevpos($inthat, $this)+strlen($this));
    };

    function before ($this, $inthat)
    {
        return substr($inthat, 0, strpos($inthat, $this));
    };

    function before_last ($this, $inthat)
    {
        return substr($inthat, 0, strrevpos($inthat, $this));
    };

    function between ($this, $that, $inthat)
    {
     return before($that, after($this, $inthat));
    };

    function between_last ($this, $that, $inthat)
    {
     return after_last($this, before_last($that, $inthat));
    };

    // USES
    function strrevpos($instr, $needle)
    {
        $rev_pos = strpos (strrev($instr), strrev($needle));
        if ($rev_pos===false) return false;
        else return strlen($instr) - $rev_pos - strlen($needle);
    };

    function listdir($dir='.') {
    if (!is_dir($dir)) {
        return false;
    }

    $files = array();
    listdiraux($dir, $files);

    return $files;
}

function listdiraux($dir, &$files) {
    $handle = opendir($dir);
    while (($file = readdir($handle)) !== false) {
        if ($file == '.' || $file == '..') {
            continue;
        }
        $filepath = $dir == '.' ? $file : $dir . '/' . $file;
        if (is_link($filepath))
            continue;
        if (is_file($filepath))
            $files[] = $filepath;
        else if (is_dir($filepath))
            listdiraux($filepath, $files);
    }
    closedir($handle);
}

function file_extension($filename)
{
   $info = pathinfo($filename);
   return $info['extension'];
} 
?>

---

When I try to run this via a cron, I get the output "You must enter a valid path such as /home/apresv/public_html or apresv/public_html for this script to function.

What do I need to do to get this to run via a CRON JOB?

Thanks!

Answer 1

The basic to execute a script with CRON is to make the file executable, talking about a php file you must give the file the path where is the interpreter command, this is called shebang (read more about in here) and must be placed at the very top of the script.

So you must do the following

$ chmod +x script.php
$ sed -i '1 i\#!/usr/bin/php' script.php #This is to insert the shebang

So you can configure the CRON

$ crontab -e
* * * * * /path/to/script.php

NOTE: Of course you have to be sure your script works.