title: FFmpeg (Thumbnail from video) works in command line, but not in PHP script
body: <p><strong>I looked at the similar questions, and the solutions there do not work in my case. Anyone has any idea? I am trying to capture a thumbnail from a given video file.</strong></p>
  
  <p>Later, my goal is to capture a thumbnail from live streaming video file.</p>
  
  <p><strong>Below is my current set up.</strong> </p>
  
  <p>Linux Ubuntu    16.04</p>
  
  <p>PHP version 7.0</p>
  
  <p>Nginx Version   1.10.3</p>
  
  <p>FFmpeg Version  FFmpeg 2.8.11 </p>
  
  <p><strong>I installed FFmpeg through below commands in my Ubuntu server.</strong></p>
  
  <pre><code>apt-get update
  apt-get install ffmpeg
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><strong>When I type the below command line in the terminal, it does the conversion fine.</strong></p>
  
  <pre><code>ffmpeg -i /etc/nginx/html/test.mp4 -ss 00:00:01 -vframes 1 -vf scale=240:120 /etc/nginx/html/Share/ffmpeg/thumbnails/test.png;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>In order to use it in php file, I confirmed the location of ffmpeg binaries by I typing in the terminal, <code>which ffmpeg</code>, and it returns <code>/usr/bin/ffmpeg</code></p>
  
  <p>I also gave permission to the directory by using <code>chmod 755</code> command line.</p>
  
  <p><strong>Here is what I have in my ffmpeg.php file.
  I included the full path to my ffmpeg as you can see.</strong></p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;?php
  header("Content-Type: text/html;charset=UTF-8");
  
  $ffmpeg = "/usr/bin/ffmpeg";
  $videoFile="/etc/nginx/html/test.mp4";
  $thumbnail= "/etc/nginx/html/Share/ffmpeg/thumbnails/thumbnail1.jpg";
  
  $cmd = "$ffmpeg -i $videoFile -ss 00:00:01 -vframes 1 -vf scale=240:120 $thumbnail 2&gt;&amp;1 &amp;";
  
  $output = shell_exec($cmd);
  echo "&lt;pre&gt;".$output."&lt;/pre&gt;";
  ?&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><strong>This returns the message like below.</strong></p>
  
  <pre><code>ffmpeg version 2.8.11-0ubuntu0.16.04.1 Copyright (c) 2000-2017 the FFmpeg developers
    built with gcc 5.4.0 (Ubuntu 5.4.0-6ubuntu1~16.04.4) 20160609
    configuration: --prefix=/usr --extra-version=0ubuntu0.16.04.1 --build-suffix=-ffmpeg --toolchain=hardened --libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --incdir=/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu --cc=cc --cxx=g++ --enable-gpl --enable-shared --disable-stripping --disable-decoder=libopenjpeg --disable-decoder=libschroedinger --enable-avresample --enable-avisynth --enable-gnutls --enable-ladspa --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libbs2b --enable-libcaca --enable-libcdio --enable-libflite --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libgme --enable-libgsm --enable-libmodplug --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-librtmp --enable-libschroedinger --enable-libshine --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libssh --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwavpack --enable-libwebp --enable-libx265 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzvbi --enable-openal --enable-opengl --enable-x11grab --enable-libdc1394 --enable-libiec61883 --enable-libzmq --enable-frei0r --enable-libx264 --enable-libopencv
    libavutil      54. 31.100 / 54. 31.100
    libavcodec     56. 60.100 / 56. 60.100
    libavformat    56. 40.101 / 56. 40.101
    libavdevice    56.  4.100 / 56.  4.100
    libavfilter     5. 40.101 /  5. 40.101
    libavresample   2.  1.  0 /  2.  1.  0
    libswscale      3.  1.101 /  3.  1.101
    libswresample   1.  2.101 /  1.  2.101
    libpostproc    53.  3.100 / 53.  3.100
  Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from '/etc/nginx/html/Share/test.mp4':
    Metadata:
      major_brand     : isom
      minor_version   : 512
      compatible_brands: isomiso2mp41
      creation_time   : 1970-01-01 00:00:00
      encoder         : Lavf53.24.2
    Duration: 00:00:06.40, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 1321 kb/s
      Stream #0:0(und): Video: mpeg4 (Simple Profile) (mp4v / 0x7634706D), yuv420p, 640x368 [SAR 1:1 DAR 40:23], 932 kb/s, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 12800 tbn, 25 tbc (default)
      Metadata:
        creation_time   : 1970-01-01 00:00:00
        handler_name    : VideoHandler
      Stream #0:1(und): Audio: aac (LC) (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 48000 Hz, 5.1, fltp, 383 kb/s (default)
      Metadata:
        creation_time   : 1970-01-01 00:00:00
        handler_name    : SoundHandler
  [swscaler @ 0x1621be0] deprecated pixel format used, make sure you did set range correctly
  Output #0, image2, to '/etc/nginx/html/Share/ffmpeg/thumbnails/thumbnail1.jpg':
    Metadata:
      major_brand     : isom
      minor_version   : 512
      compatible_brands: isomiso2mp41
      encoder         : Lavf56.40.101
      Stream #0:0(und): Video: mjpeg, yuvj420p(pc), 240x120 [SAR 20:23 DAR 40:23], q=2-31, 200 kb/s, 25 fps, 25 tbn, 25 tbc (default)
      Metadata:
        creation_time   : 1970-01-01 00:00:00
        handler_name    : VideoHandler
        encoder         : Lavc56.60.100 mjpeg
  Stream mapping:
    Stream #0:0 -&gt; #0:0 (mpeg4 (native) -&gt; mjpeg (native))
  Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
  [image2 @ 0x16165a0] Could not open file : /etc/nginx/html/Share/ffmpeg/thumbnails/thumbnail1.jpg
  av_interleaved_write_frame(): Input/output error
  frame=    1 fps=0.0 q=3.9 Lsize=N/A time=00:00:00.04 bitrate=N/A    
  video:8kB audio:0kB subtitle:0kB other streams:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead: unknown
  Conversion failed!
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><strong>UPDATED: I also gave permission to ffmpeg by chmod +x $(which ffmpeg)</strong></p>
  
  <p>I tried <code>php /etc/nginx/html/Share/ffmpeg/ffmpeg.php</code> in the terminal, and it also does conversion fine.</p>
  
  <pre><code>  libavutil      54. 31.100 / 54. 31.100
    libavcodec     56. 60.100 / 56. 60.100
    libavformat    56. 40.101 / 56. 40.101
    libavdevice    56.  4.100 / 56.  4.100
    libavfilter     5. 40.101 /  5. 40.101
    libavresample   2.  1.  0 /  2.  1.  0
    libswscale      3.  1.101 /  3.  1.101
    libswresample   1.  2.101 /  1.  2.101
    libpostproc    53.  3.100 / 53.  3.100
  Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from '/etc/nginx/html/Share/test.mp4':
    Metadata:
      major_brand     : isom
      minor_version   : 512
      compatible_brands: isomiso2mp41
      creation_time   : 1970-01-01 00:00:00
      encoder         : Lavf53.24.2
    Duration: 00:00:06.40, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 1321 kb/s
      Stream #0:0(und): Video: mpeg4 (Simple Profile) (mp4v / 0x7634706D), yuv420p, 640x368 [SAR 1:1 DAR 40:23], 932 kb/s, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 12800 tbn, 25 tbc (default)
      Metadata:
        creation_time   : 1970-01-01 00:00:00
        handler_name    : VideoHandler
      Stream #0:1(und): Audio: aac (LC) (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 48000 Hz, 5.1, fltp, 383 kb/s (default)
      Metadata:
        creation_time   : 1970-01-01 00:00:00
        handler_name    : SoundHandler
  [swscaler @ 0x72dbe0] deprecated pixel format used, make sure you did set range correctly
  Output #0, image2, to '/etc/nginx/html/Share/ffmpeg/thumbnails/thumbnail.jpg':
    Metadata:
      major_brand     : isom
      minor_version   : 512
      compatible_brands: isomiso2mp41
      encoder         : Lavf56.40.101
      Stream #0:0(und): Video: mjpeg, yuvj420p(pc), 240x120 [SAR 20:23 DAR 40:23], q=2-31, 200 kb/s, 25 fps, 25 tbn, 25 tbc (default)
      Metadata:
        creation_time   : 1970-01-01 00:00:00
        handler_name    : VideoHandler
        encoder         : Lavc56.60.100 mjpeg
  Stream mapping:
    Stream #0:0 -&gt; #0:0 (mpeg4 (native) -&gt; mjpeg (native))
  Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
  frame=    1 fps=0.0 q=3.9 Lsize=N/A time=00:00:00.04 bitrate=N/A    
  video:8kB audio:0kB subtitle:0kB other streams:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead: unknown
  </code></pre>