How can shell commands be utilized in PHP for file searches on Unix/Linux systems?

To search for files on Unix/Linux systems using shell commands in PHP, you can use the `shell_exec()` function to execute commands like `find` or `grep`. These commands allow you to search for files based on various criteria such as name, size, or content. By capturing the output of the shell command, you can then process the results within your PHP script. 

// Search for files in a directory containing a specific keyword
$directory = '/path/to/directory';
$keyword = 'example';

$command = "find $directory -type f -exec grep -l '$keyword' {} +";
$output = shell_exec($command);

echo "<pre>$output</pre>";

Keywords

PHP shell commands file searches Unix Linux

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