You want to execute an external command and collect its output as a Python string.
Use the subprocess.check_output() function. For example:
import subprocessout_bytes = subprocess.check_output([‘netstat','-a'])
This runs the specified command and returns its output as a byte string. If you need tointerpret the resulting bytes as text, add a further decoding step. For example:
out_text = out_bytes.decode(‘utf-8')
If the executed command returns a nonzero exit code, an exception is raised. Here isan example of catching errors and getting the output created along with the exit code:
try:out_bytes = subprocess.check_output([‘cmd','arg1','arg2'])except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:out_bytes = e.output # Output generated before errorcode = e.returncode # Return code
By default, check_output() only returns output written to standard output. If you wantboth standard output and error collected, use the stderr argument:
out_bytes = subprocess.check_output([‘cmd','arg1','arg2'],stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
If you need to execute a command with a timeout, use the timeout argument:
try:out_bytes = subprocess.check_output([‘cmd','arg1','arg2'], timeout=5)except subprocess.TimeoutExpired as e:...
Normally, commands are executed without the assistance of an underlying shell (e.g.,sh, bash, etc.). Instead, the list of strings supplied are given to a low-level system com‐mand, such as os.execve(). If you want the command to be interpreted by a shell,supply it using a simple string and give the shell=True argument. This is sometimesuseful if you’re trying to get Python to execute a complicated shell command involvingpipes, I/O redirection, and other features. For example:
out_bytes = subprocess.check_output(‘grep python | wc > out', shell=True)
Be aware that executing commands under the shell is a potential security risk if argu‐ments are derived from user input. The shlex.quote() function can be used to properlyquote arguments for inclusion in shell commands in this case.
The check_output() function is the easiest way to execute an external command andget its output. However, if you need to perform more advanced communication with a
subprocess, such as sending it input, you’ll need to take a difference approach. For that,use the subprocess.Popen class directly. For example:
import subprocess
stdout = subprocess.PIPE,stdin = subprocess.PIPE)
The subprocess module is not suitable for communicating with external commandsthat expect to interact with a proper TTY. For example, you can’t use it to automate tasksthat ask the user to enter a password (e.g., a ssh session). For that, you would need toturn to a third-party module, such as those based on the popular “expect” family of tools(e.g., pexpect or similar).