Testing if a server is running with almost no permissions

[Simon]

Hi,

My webhost allows me to run php but no shell_execute(...), system(...) and
so on.

I am trying to get info from a site, the reply from the site is usually less
than 1 second.

I have tried

fsockopen("http://www.example.com", 80, $errno, $errstr, 1);
//and
file( "http://www.example.com")
//
fopen( ..., "r" );

But that does not work

according to php.net
"Depending on the environment, the Unix domain or the optional connect
timeout may not be available."

I cannot change "Set_time_limit(...)" because I have no access to the
php.ini file.

So, how can i test for a website and have a 1 second timeout?

Many thanks in advance.

Simon

[Erwin Moller]

Simon wrote:

Hi,

My webhost allows me to run php but no shell_execute(...), system(...) and
so on.

I am trying to get info from a site, the reply from the site is usually
less than 1 second.

I have tried

fsockopen("http://www.example.com", 80, $errno, $errstr, 1);
//and
file( "http://www.example.com")
//
fopen( ..., "r" );

But that does not work

according to php.net
"Depending on the environment, the Unix domain or the optional connect
timeout may not be available."

I cannot change "Set_time_limit(...)" because I have no access to the
php.ini file.

So, how can i test for a website and have a 1 second timeout?

Many thanks in advance.

Simon

I think you cannot if your provider is so strick.
I wonder why they are so afraid of file() and fopen().
Maybe they have something to hide, like the fact that they don't know how to
set up PHP properly. :-/
You can always switch provider of course.

Regards,
Erwin Moller

[Simon]

>

I think you cannot if your provider is so strick.
I wonder why they are so afraid of file() and fopen().
Maybe they have something to hide, like the fact that they don't know how
to
set up PHP properly. :-/
You can always switch provider of course.

Regards,
Erwin Moller

I don't understand?
file() and fopen() has nothing to do with them, (i think).

That's just the way php works.

There must be a way of testing if a domain is "online" or "offline".

Simon

[Erwin Moller]

Simon wrote:

I think you cannot if your provider is so strick.
I wonder why they are so afraid of file() and fopen().
Maybe they have something to hide, like the fact that they don't know how
to
set up PHP properly. :-/
You can always switch provider of course.

Regards,
Erwin Moller

I don't understand?
file() and fopen() has nothing to do with them, (i think).

That's just the way php works.

There must be a way of testing if a domain is "online" or "offline".

Simon

Probably it is me who doesn't understand. :P

In your original post you wrote this:
------------------------------
I have tried

fsockopen("http://www.example.com", 80, $errno, $errstr, 1);
//and
file( "http://www.example.com")
//
fopen( ..., "r" );

But that does not work
------------------------------

So I thought your provider was blocking that functionality.

But You probably mean that they are working, but you cannot use the timeout
on them? right?

Nevermind, I am always slow on workingdays. :P

And sorry: If that is your problem, I don't know the answer.

However the manual says this:

http://nl3.php.net/manual/en/function.fsockopen.php
----------------------------------------------
Note: If you need to set a timeout for reading/writing data over the
socket, use stream_set_timeout(), as the timeout parameter to fsockopen()
only applies while connecting the socket.
-----------------------------------------------

Does that help?
Regards,
Erwin Moller

[Chung Leong]

Erwin Moller wrote:

Simon wrote:

Hi,

My webhost allows me to run php but no shell_execute(...), system(...) and
so on.

I am trying to get info from a site, the reply from the site is usually
less than 1 second.

I have tried

fsockopen("http://www.example.com", 80, $errno, $errstr, 1);
//and
file( "http://www.example.com")
//
fopen( ..., "r" );

But that does not work

according to php.net
"Depending on the environment, the Unix domain or the optional connect
timeout may not be available."

I cannot change "Set_time_limit(...)" because I have no access to the
php.ini file.

So, how can i test for a website and have a 1 second timeout?

Many thanks in advance.

Simon

I think you cannot if your provider is so strick.
I wonder why they are so afraid of file() and fopen().
Maybe they have something to hide, like the fact that they don't know how to
set up PHP properly. :-/
You can always switch provider of course.

Regards,
Erwin Moller

The problem isn't file() or fopen(), but include() and require().
Remote inclusion is the typical way a PHP worm deploys its payload.
Currently the only way to disable that is allow_url_fopen, which of
course disables everything. The good news is that a separate option
will be added sometime in the future and it'll be off by default.

[Simon]

>

The problem isn't file() or fopen(), but include() and require().
Remote inclusion is the typical way a PHP worm deploys its payload.
Currently the only way to disable that is allow_url_fopen, which of
course disables everything. The good news is that a separate option
will be added sometime in the future and it'll be off by default.

No, it has nothing to do with include() or require().
They are not even used for the same thing.

The problem is that I am trying to use fopen(...) or file(...) to read the
content of another site but if that site is down then they simply don't
return.

I want a way, (other than system(...) and shell_execute(...)), to test if a
domain is up.

Simon

[Simon]

So I thought your provider was blocking that functionality.

But You probably mean that they are working, but you cannot use the
timeout
on them? right?
Right,

Nevermind, I am always slow on workingdays. :P

And sorry: If that is your problem, I don't know the answer.

However the manual says this:

http://nl3.php.net/manual/en/function.fsockopen.php
----------------------------------------------
Note: If you need to set a timeout for reading/writing data over the
socket, use stream_set_timeout(), as the timeout parameter to fsockopen()
only applies while connecting the socket.
-----------------------------------------------

Does that help?
Thanks a lot, you were right.

My fsockopen(...) was returning ok even if there was no connection

but adding stream_set_timeout($fp, 2); did the trick.

Thanks.


Regards,
Erwin Moller

Simon

[Colin McKinnon]

Simon wrote:

The problem isn't file() or fopen(), but include() and require().
No, it has nothing to do with include() or require().
They are not even used for the same thing.

Yes it does - they all use the same underlying code for reading files.

The best solution would be to use curl lib fns in PHP (you can set a
timeout).
The problem is that I am trying to use fopen(...) or file(...) to read the
content of another site but if that site is down then they simply don't
return.

So decouple this process from the process which presents the results. Spawn
it off in the back ground and set it to communicate with the reporting
process (e.g. by dropping a copy of the data on the local filesystem) when
succesful
I want a way, (other than system(...) and shell_execute(...)), to test if
a domain is up.

A domain? Are you sure that is what you mean?

C.