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EXEC module

The Exec module enables the execution of external commands from the OpenSIPS script. Any valid shell commands are accepted. The final input string is evaluated and executed using the “/bin/sh” symlink/binary. OpenSIPS may additionally pass a lot more information about the request using environment variables:

  • SIP_HF_<hf_name> contains value of each header field in request. If a header field occurred multiple times, values are concatenated and comma-separated. <hf_name> is in capital letters. Ff a header-field name occurred in compact form, <hf_name> is canonical.
  • SIP_TID is transaction identifier. All request retransmissions or CANCELs/ACKs associated with a previous INVITE result in the same value.
  • SIP_DID is dialog identifier, which is the same as to-tag. Initially, it is empty.
  • SIP_SRCIP is source IP address from which request came.
  • SIP_ORURI is original request URI.
  • SIP_RURI is current request URI (if unchanged, equal to original).
  • SIP_USER is userpart of current request URI.
  • SIP_OUSER is userpart of original request URI.
  • SIP_REPLY_CODE is the code of the current reply.
  • SIP_REPLY_REASON is the reason of the current reply.

The following modules must be loaded before this module:

  • No dependencies on other OpenSIPS modules.

The following libraries or applications must be installed before running OpenSIPS with this module loaded:

  • None.

Set to 1 to enable setting all above-mentioned environment variables for all executed commands.

Default value is 0 (disabled).

Set 'setvars' parameter
...
modparam("exec", "setvars", 1)
...

Specifies the longest time a program is allowed to execute. If the time is exceeded, the program is killed.

Default value is 0 (disabled).

Set 'time_to_kill' parameter
...
modparam("exec", "time_to_kill", 20)
...

Turns on the asynchronous mode for the ‘exec_msg’ function. All commands will be executed by a different process and the caller will continue its flow, without waiting for a response.

Default value is 0 (disabled).

Set 'async' parameter
...
modparam("exec", "async", 1)
...

Executes an external command. The current R-URI is appended to the command as its last parameter. The output of the command will rewrite the current R-URI. Multiple lines of output lead to multiple branches.

Meaning of the parameters is as follows:

  • command (string, pvar) - command to be executed. It can include pseudo-variables or ’$$’ delimited UNIX environment variables

WARNING: most OpenSIPS scripting variables should be quoted before being passed to external commands, as in: exec_avp(“log-call.sh ‘$ct’”). This may help avoid some unexpected behaviour (e.g. unwanted extra parameters, errors due to special bash characters, etc.)

This function can be used from REQUEST_ROUTE, FAILURE_ROUTE.

exec_dset usage
...
exec_dset("ruri-changer.sh");
exec_dset("ruri-changer.sh '$ct'");
...

Executes an external command. The current SIP message is passed to it in the standard input, no command-line parameters are added and the output of the command is ignored.

See sip-server/modules/exec/etc/exec.cfg in the source tarball for information on usage.

Meaning of the parameters is as follows:

  • command (string) - command to be executed. It can include pseudo-variables or ’$$’ delimited UNIX environment variables

WARNING: most OpenSIPS scripting variables should be quoted before being passed to external commands, as in: exec_avp(“log-call.sh ‘$ct’”). This may help avoid some unexpected behaviour (e.g. unwanted extra parameters, errors due to special bash characters, etc.)

This function can be used from REQUEST_ROUTE, FAILURE_ROUTE, LOCAL_ROUTE, TIMER_ROUTE, EVENT_ROUTE, ONREPLY_ROUTE.

exec_msg usage
...
exec_msg("call-logger.sh '$ct' >> /var/log/call-logger/'$rU'.calls");
...

Executes an external command. Each output line of the command is saved in its corresponding AVP from avplist. If avplist is missing or is incomplete, the populated AVPs will be 1, 2, 3… or N, N+1, N+2…

Meaning of the parameters is as follows:

  • command (string) - command to be executed. It can include pseudo-variables or ’$$’ delimited UNIX environment variables
  • avplist (string) - comma separated list with AVP names to store the result in

WARNING: most OpenSIPS scripting variables should be quoted before being passed to external commands, as in: exec_avp(“log-call.sh ‘$ct’”). This may help avoid some unexpected behaviour (e.g. unwanted extra parameters, errors due to special bash characters, etc.)

This function can be used from REQUEST_ROUTE, FAILURE_ROUTE, LOCAL_ROUTE, STARTUP_ROUTE, TIMER_ROUTE, EVENT_ROUTE, ONREPLY_ROUTE.

exec_avp usage
...
exec_avp("get-subscriber-details.sh '$rU'", "$avp(credit) $avp(contract_model)");
...

Obtains the value of a UNIX evironment_variable. The value is saved in ‘avp’. If ‘avp’ is missing, output will be stored in $avp(1). If there is no such environment variable no value will be returned.

Meaning of the parameters is as follows:

  • environment_variable (string) - environent variable name. Can also be specified as a pseudo-variable
  • avp - an AVP to store the result in

WARNING: any OpenSIPS pseudo-vars which may contain special bash characters should be placed inside quotes, e.g. exec_getenv(”‘$ct’”);

This function can be used from REQUEST_ROUTE, FAILURE_ROUTE, LOCAL_ROUTE, STARTUP_ROUTE, TIMER_ROUTE, EVENT_ROUTE, ONREPLY_ROUTE.

exec_getenv usage
...
exec_getenv("HOSTNAME");
exec_getenv("HOSTNAME", "$avp(localhost)");
...

When imposing an execution timeout using time to kill, make sure your “/bin/sh” is a shell which does not fork when executed, case in which the job itself will not be killed, but rather its parent shell, while the job is silently inherited by “init” and will continue to run. “/bin/dash” is one of these troublesome shell environments.

Top contributors by DevScore(1), authored commits(2) and lines added/removed(3)

#NameDevScoreCommitsLines++Lines—
1.Bogdan-Andrei Iancu (@bogdan-iancu)2920289315
2.Jiri Kuthan (@jiriatipteldotorg)28111579152
3.Daniel-Constantin Mierla (@miconda)2619445136
4.Jan Janak (@janakj)1810494142
5.Razvan Crainea (@razvancrainea)141034059
6.Liviu Chircu (@liviuchircu)146311261
7.Andrei Pelinescu-Onciul11833109
8.Stefan Darius (@dariusstefan)9435371
9.Henning Westerholt (@henningw)4288
10.Anca Vamanu3155

All remaining contributors: Dan Pascu (@danpascu), Elena-Ramona Modroiu, Konstantin Bokarius, Andreas Granig, Edson Gellert Schubert, Dror Wald, Walter Doekes (@wdoekes).

(1) DevScore = author_commits + author_lines_added / (project_lines_added / project_commits) + author_lines_deleted / (project_lines_deleted / project_commits)

(2) including any documentation-related commits, excluding merge commits

(3) ignoring whitespace edits, renamed files and auto-generated files

#NameCommit Activity
1.Stefan Darius (@dariusstefan)Jun 2026 - Jul 2026
2.Razvan Crainea (@razvancrainea)Jun 2011 - Jun 2026
3.Liviu Chircu (@liviuchircu)Feb 2014 - Oct 2014
4.Walter Doekes (@wdoekes)Mar 2014 - Mar 2014
5.Bogdan-Andrei Iancu (@bogdan-iancu)Jul 2004 - Jan 2013
6.Anca VamanuJan 2011 - Jan 2011
7.Dror WaldNov 2008 - Nov 2008
8.Dan Pascu (@danpascu)Sep 2008 - Sep 2008
9.Daniel-Constantin Mierla (@miconda)Oct 2005 - Jun 2008
10.Konstantin BokariusMar 2008 - Mar 2008

All remaining contributors: Edson Gellert Schubert, Henning Westerholt (@henningw), Elena-Ramona Modroiu, Andreas Granig, Jan Janak (@janakj), Andrei Pelinescu-Onciul, Jiri Kuthan (@jiriatipteldotorg).

(1) including any documentation-related commits, excluding merge commits

Last edited by: Razvan Crainea (@razvancrainea), Liviu Chircu (@liviuchircu), Bogdan-Andrei Iancu (@bogdan-iancu), Anca Vamanu, Dror Wald, Dan Pascu (@danpascu), Daniel-Constantin Mierla (@miconda), Konstantin Bokarius, Edson Gellert Schubert, Elena-Ramona Modroiu, Jan Janak (@janakj).

All documentation files (i.e. .md extension) are licensed under the Creative Common License 4.0