I want to drop into a shell for a ctf competition I am working on. I am not allowed to use pwntools for this. I want to achieve something like following from python:
import os
os.system("/bin/bash &")
print("hello world") # assume I am writing to a file
os.system("fg") # does not work (but assume resuming shell /bin/bash)
I can't use subprocess since I need to drop into a shell. Not communicate back and forth with the bash process which would run in the background. Is there an easy way to approach this?
You want to use the subprocess module instead. fg is a shell built-in command that only works with job control in the shell itself.
import subprocess
p = subprocess.Popen(["bash"])
print('hello world')
p.wait()
Related
I am trying to write the codes to run a C executable using Python.
The C program can be run in the terminal just by calling ./myprogram and it will prompt a selection menu, as shown below:
1. Login
2. Register
Now, using Python and subprocess, I write the following codes:
import subprocess
subprocess.run(["./myprogram"])
The Python program runs but it shows nothing (No errors too!). Any ideas why it is happening?
When I tried:
import subprocess
subprocess.run(["ls"])
All the files in that particular directory are showing. So I assume this is right.
You have to open the subprocess like this:
import subprocess
cmd = subprocess.Popen(['./myprogram'], stdin=subprocess.PIPE)
This means that cmd will have a .stdin you can write to; print by default sends output to your Python script's stdout, which has no connection with the subprocess' stdin. So do that:
cmd.stdin.write('1\n') # tell myprogram to select 1
and then quite probably you should:
cmd.stdin.flush() # don't let your input stay in in-memory-buffers
or
cmd.stdin.close() # if you're done with writing to the subprocess.
PS If your Python script is a long-running process on a *nix system and you notice your subprocess has ended but is still displayed as a Z (zombie) process, please check that answer.
Maybe flush stdout?
print("", flush=True,end="")
I am attempting to to launch a python script from within another python script, but in a minimized console, then return control to the original shell.
I am able to open the required script in a new shell below, but it's not minimized:
#!/usr/bin/env python
import os
import sys
import subprocess
pyTivoPath="c:\pyTivo\pyTivo.py"
print "Testing: Open New Console"
subprocess.Popen([sys.executable, pyTivoPath], creationflags = subprocess.CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE)
print
raw_input("Press Enter to continue...")
Further, I will need to be able to later remotely KILL this shell from the original script, so I suspect I'll need to be explicit in naming the new process. Correct?
Looking for pointers, please. Thanks!
Note: python27 is mandatory for this application. Eventually will also need to work on Mac and Linux.
Do you need to have the other console open? If you now the commands to be sent, then I'd recommend using Popen.communicate(input="Shell commands") and it will automate the process for you.
So you could write something along the lines of:
# Commands to pass into subprocess (each command is separated by a newline)
commands = (
"command1\n" +
"command2\n"
)
# Your process
py_process = subprocess.Popen(*yourprocess_here*, stdin=PIPE, shell=True)
# Feed process the needed input
py_process.communicate(input=commands)
# Terminate when finished
py_process.terminate()
The code above will execute the process you specify and even send commands but it won't open a new console.
I tried something like this, but with no effect:
command = "cmd.exe"
proc = subprocess.Popen(command, stdin = subprocess.PIPE, stdout = subprocess.PIPE)
proc.stdin.write("dir c:\\")
how about simply:
import os
os.system('dir c:\\')
You probably want to try something like this:
command = "cmd.exe /C dir C:\\"
I don't think you can pipe into cmd.exe... If you are coming from a unix background, well, cmd.exe has some ugly warts!
EDIT: According to Sven Marnach, you can pipe to cmd.exe. I tried following in a python shell:
>>> import subprocess
>>> proc = subprocess.Popen('cmd.exe', stdin = subprocess.PIPE, stdout = subprocess.PIPE)
>>> stdout, stderr = proc.communicate('dir c:\\')
>>> stdout
'Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]\r\nCopyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporatio
n. All rights reserved.\r\n\r\nC:\\Python25>More? '
As you can see, you still have a bit of work to do (only the first line is returned), but you might be able to get this to work...
Try:
import os
os.popen("Your command here")
Using ' and " at the same time works great for me (Windows 10, python 3)
import os
os.system('"some cmd command here"')
for example to open my web browser I can use this:
os.system(r'"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe"')
(Edit)
for an easier way to open your browser I can use this:
import webbrowser
webbrowser.open('website or leave it alone if you only want to open the
browser')
Try adding a call to proc.stdin.flush() after writing to the pipe and see if things start behaving more as you expect. Explicitly flushing the pipe means you don't need to worry about exactly how the buffering is set up.
Also, don't forget to include a "\n" at the end of your command or your child shell will sit there at the prompt waiting for completion of the command entry.
I wrote about using Popen to manipulate an external shell instance in more detail at: Running three commands in the same process with Python
As was the case in that question, this trick can be valuable if you need to maintain shell state across multiple out-of-process invocations on a Windows machine.
Taking some inspiration from Daren Thomas's answer (and edit), try this:
proc = subprocess.Popen('dir C:\\', shell=True, stdin=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
out, err = proc.communicate()
out will now contain the text output.
They key nugget here is that the subprocess module already provides you shell integration with shell=True, so you don't need to call cmd.exe directly.
As a reminder, if you're in Python 3, this is going to be bytes, so you may want to do out.decode() to convert to a string.
Why do you want to call cmd.exe ? cmd.exe is a command line (shell). If you want to change directory, use os.chdir("C:\\"). Try not to call external commands if Python can provide it. In fact, most operating system commands are provide through the os module (and sys). I suggest you take a look at os module documentation to see the various methods available.
It's very simple. You need just two lines of code with just using the built-in function and also it takes the input and runs forever until you stop it. Also that 'cmd' in quotes, leave it and don't change it. Here is the code:
import os
os.system('cmd')
Now just run this code and see the whole windows command prompt in your python project!
Here's a way to just execute a command line command and get its output using the subprocess module:
import subprocess
# You can put the parts of your command in the list below or just use a string directly.
command_to_execute = ["echo", "Test"]
run = subprocess.run(command_to_execute, capture_output=True)
print(run.stdout) # the output "Test"
print(run.stderr) # the error part of the output
Just don't forget the capture_output=True argument and you're fine. Also, you will get the output as a binary string (b"something" in Python), but you can easily convert it using run.stdout.decode().
In Python, you can use CMD commands using these lines :
import os
os.system("YOUR_COMMAND_HERE")
Just replace YOUR_COMMAND_HERE with the command you like.
From Python you can do directly using below code
import subprocess
proc = subprocess.check_output('C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /k %windir%\System32\\reg.exe ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v EnableLUA /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f' ,stderr=subprocess.STDOUT,shell=True)
print(str(proc))
in first parameter just executed User Account setting you may customize with yours.
How do I execute a program from within my program without blocking until the executed program finishes?
I have tried:
os.system()
But it stops my program till the executed program is stopped/closed. Is there a way to allow my program to keep running after the execution of the external program?
Consider using the subprocess module.
Python 2: http://docs.python.org/2/library/subprocess.html
Python 3: http://docs.python.org/3/library/subprocess.html
subprocess spawns a new process in which your external application is run. Your application continues execution while the other application runs.
You want subprocess.
You could use the subprocess module, but the os.system will also work. It works through a shell, so you just have to put an '&' at the end of your string. Just like in an interactive shell, it will then run in the background.
If you need to get some kind of output from it, however, you will most likely want to use the subprocess module.
You can use subprocess for that:
import subprocess
import codecs
# start 'yourexecutable' with some parameters
# and throw the output away
with codecs.open(os.devnull, 'wb', encoding='utf8') as devnull:
subprocess.check_call(["yourexecutable",
"-param",
"value"],
stdout=devnull, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT
)
I want to spawn (fork?) multiple Python scripts from my program (written in Python as well).
My problem is that I want to dedicate one terminal to each script, because I'll gather their output using pexpect.
I've tried using pexpect, os.execlp, and os.forkpty but neither of them do as I expect.
I want to spawn the child processes and forget about them (they will process some data, write the output to the terminal which I could read with pexpect and then exit).
Is there any library/best practice/etc. to accomplish this job?
p.s. Before you ask why I would write to STDOUT and read from it, I shall say that I don't write to STDOUT, I read the output of tshark.
See the subprocess module
The subprocess module allows you to spawn new processes, connect to their input/output/error pipes, and obtain their return codes. This module intends to replace several other, older modules and functions, such as:
os.system
os.spawn*
os.popen*
popen2.*
commands.*
From Python 3.5 onwards you can do:
import subprocess
result = subprocess.run(['python', 'my_script.py', '--arg1', val1])
if result.returncode != 0:
print('script returned error')
This also automatically redirects stdout and stderr.
I don't understand why you need expect for this. tshark should send its output to stdout, and only for some strange reason would it send it to stderr.
Therefore, what you want should be:
import subprocess
fp= subprocess.Popen( ("/usr/bin/tshark", "option1", "option2"), stdout=subprocess.PIPE).stdout
# now, whenever you are ready, read stuff from fp
You want to dedicate one terminal or one python shell?
You already have some useful answers for Popen and Subprocess, you could also use pexpect if you're already planning on using it anyways.
#for multiple python shells
import pexpect
#make your commands however you want them, this is just one method
mycommand1 = "print 'hello first python shell'"
mycommand2 = "print 'this is my second shell'"
#add a "for" statement if you want
child1 = pexpect.spawn('python')
child1.sendline(mycommand1)
child2 = pexpect.spawn('python')
child2.sendline(mycommand2)
Make as many children/shells as you want and then use the child.before() or child.after() to get your responses.
Of course you would want to add definitions or classes to be sent instead of "mycommand1", but this is just a simple example.
If you wanted to make a bunch of terminals in linux, you just need to replace the 'python' in the pextpext.spawn line
Note: I haven't tested the above code. I'm just replying from past experience with pexpect.