Struct std::process::Command

pub struct Command { /* private fields */ }

A process builder, providing fine-grained control over how a new process should be spawned.

A default configuration can be generated using Command::new(program), where program gives a path to the program to be executed. Additional builder methods allow the configuration to be changed (for example, by adding arguments) prior to spawning:

use std::process::Command;

let output = if cfg!(target_os = "windows") {
    Command::new("cmd")
            .args(["/C", "echo hello"])
            .output()
            .expect("failed to execute process")
} else {
    Command::new("sh")
            .arg("-c")
            .arg("echo hello")
            .output()
            .expect("failed to execute process")
};

let hello = output.stdout;

Command can be reused to spawn multiple processes. The builder methods change the command without needing to immediately spawn the process.

use std::process::Command;

let mut echo_hello = Command::new("sh");
echo_hello.arg("-c")
          .arg("echo hello");
let hello_1 = echo_hello.output().expect("failed to execute process");
let hello_2 = echo_hello.output().expect("failed to execute process");

Similarly, you can call builder methods after spawning a process and then spawn a new process with the modified settings.

use std::process::Command;

let mut list_dir = Command::new("ls");

// Execute `ls` in the current directory of the program.
list_dir.status().expect("process failed to execute");

println!();

// Change `ls` to execute in the root directory.
list_dir.current_dir("/");

// And then execute `ls` again but in the root directory.
list_dir.status().expect("process failed to execute");

Implementations

impl Command

pub fn new<S: AsRef<OsStr>>(program: S) -> Command

Constructs a new Command for launching the program at path program, with the following default configuration:

• No arguments to the program
• Inherit the current process’s environment
• Inherit the current process’s working directory
• Inherit stdin/stdout/stderr for spawn or status, but create pipes for output

Builder methods are provided to change these defaults and otherwise configure the process.

If program is not an absolute path, the PATH will be searched in an OS-defined way.

The search path to be used may be controlled by setting the PATH environment variable on the Command, but this has some implementation limitations on Windows (see issue #37519).

Examples

Basic usage:

use std::process::Command;

Command::new("sh")
        .spawn()
        .expect("sh command failed to start");

pub fn arg<S: AsRef<OsStr>>(&mut self, arg: S) -> &mut Command

Adds an argument to pass to the program.

Only one argument can be passed per use. So instead of:

.arg("-C /path/to/repo")

usage would be:

.arg("-C")
.arg("/path/to/repo")

To pass multiple arguments see args.

Note that the argument is not passed through a shell, but given literally to the program. This means that shell syntax like quotes, escaped characters, word splitting, glob patterns, substitution, etc. have no effect.

Examples

Basic usage:

use std::process::Command;

Command::new("ls")
        .arg("-l")
        .arg("-a")
        .spawn()
        .expect("ls command failed to start");

pub fn args<I, S>(&mut self, args: I) -> &mut Command where
    I: IntoIterator<Item = S>,
    S: AsRef<OsStr>, 

Adds multiple arguments to pass to the program.

To pass a single argument see arg.

Note that the arguments are not passed through a shell, but given literally to the program. This means that shell syntax like quotes, escaped characters, word splitting, glob patterns, substitution, etc. have no effect.

Examples

Basic usage:

use std::process::Command;

Command::new("ls")
        .args(["-l", "-a"])
        .spawn()
        .expect("ls command failed to start");

pub fn env<K, V>(&mut self, key: K, val: V) -> &mut Command where
    K: AsRef<OsStr>,
    V: AsRef<OsStr>, 

Inserts or updates an environment variable mapping.

Note that environment variable names are case-insensitive (but case-preserving) on Windows, and case-sensitive on all other platforms.

Examples

Basic usage:

use std::process::Command;

Command::new("ls")
        .env("PATH", "/bin")
        .spawn()
        .expect("ls command failed to start");

pub fn envs<I, K, V>(&mut self, vars: I) -> &mut Command where
    I: IntoIterator<Item = (K, V)>,
    K: AsRef<OsStr>,
    V: AsRef<OsStr>, 

Adds or updates multiple environment variable mappings.

Examples

Basic usage:

use std::process::{Command, Stdio};
use std::env;
use std::collections::HashMap;

let filtered_env : HashMap<String, String> =
    env::vars().filter(|&(ref k, _)|
        k == "TERM" || k == "TZ" || k == "LANG" || k == "PATH"
    ).collect();

Command::new("printenv")
        .stdin(Stdio::null())
        .stdout(Stdio::inherit())
        .env_clear()
        .envs(&filtered_env)
        .spawn()
        .expect("printenv failed to start");

pub fn env_remove<K: AsRef<OsStr>>(&mut self, key: K) -> &mut Command

Removes an environment variable mapping.

Examples

Basic usage:

use std::process::Command;

Command::new("ls")
        .env_remove("PATH")
        .spawn()
        .expect("ls command failed to start");

pub fn env_clear(&mut self) -> &mut Command

Clears the entire environment map for the child process.

Examples

Basic usage:

use std::process::Command;

Command::new("ls")
        .env_clear()
        .spawn()
        .expect("ls command failed to start");

pub fn current_dir<P: AsRef<Path>>(&mut self, dir: P) -> &mut Command

Sets the working directory for the child process.

Platform-specific behavior

If the program path is relative (e.g., "./script.sh"), it’s ambiguous whether it should be interpreted relative to the parent’s working directory or relative to current_dir. The behavior in this case is platform specific and unstable, and it’s recommended to use canonicalize to get an absolute program path instead.

Examples

Basic usage:

use std::process::Command;

Command::new("ls")
        .current_dir("/bin")
        .spawn()
        .expect("ls command failed to start");

pub fn stdin<T: Into<Stdio>>(&mut self, cfg: T) -> &mut Command

Configuration for the child process’s standard input (stdin) handle.

Defaults to inherit when used with spawn or status, and defaults to piped when used with output.

Examples

Basic usage:

use std::process::{Command, Stdio};

Command::new("ls")
        .stdin(Stdio::null())
        .spawn()
        .expect("ls command failed to start");

pub fn stdout<T: Into<Stdio>>(&mut self, cfg: T) -> &mut Command

Configuration for the child process’s standard output (stdout) handle.

Defaults to inherit when used with spawn or status, and defaults to piped when used with output.

Examples

Basic usage:

use std::process::{Command, Stdio};

Command::new("ls")
        .stdout(Stdio::null())
        .spawn()
        .expect("ls command failed to start");

pub fn stderr<T: Into<Stdio>>(&mut self, cfg: T) -> &mut Command

Configuration for the child process’s standard error (stderr) handle.

Defaults to inherit when used with spawn or status, and defaults to piped when used with output.

Examples

Basic usage:

use std::process::{Command, Stdio};

Command::new("ls")
        .stderr(Stdio::null())
        .spawn()
        .expect("ls command failed to start");

pub fn spawn(&mut self) -> Result<Child>

Executes the command as a child process, returning a handle to it.

By default, stdin, stdout and stderr are inherited from the parent.

Examples

Basic usage:

use std::process::Command;

Command::new("ls")
        .spawn()
        .expect("ls command failed to start");

pub fn output(&mut self) -> Result<Output>

Executes the command as a child process, waiting for it to finish and collecting all of its output.

By default, stdout and stderr are captured (and used to provide the resulting output). Stdin is not inherited from the parent and any attempt by the child process to read from the stdin stream will result in the stream immediately closing.

Examples

use std::process::Command;
use std::io::{self, Write};
let output = Command::new("/bin/cat")
                     .arg("file.txt")
                     .output()
                     .expect("failed to execute process");

println!("status: {}", output.status);
io::stdout().write_all(&output.stdout).unwrap();
io::stderr().write_all(&output.stderr).unwrap();

assert!(output.status.success());

pub fn status(&mut self) -> Result<ExitStatus>

Executes a command as a child process, waiting for it to finish and collecting its status.

By default, stdin, stdout and stderr are inherited from the parent.

Examples

use std::process::Command;

let status = Command::new("/bin/cat")
                     .arg("file.txt")
                     .status()
                     .expect("failed to execute process");

println!("process finished with: {status}");

assert!(status.success());

pub fn get_program(&self) -> &OsStr

Returns the path to the program that was given to Command::new.

Examples

use std::process::Command;

let cmd = Command::new("echo");
assert_eq!(cmd.get_program(), "echo");

pub fn get_args(&self) -> CommandArgs<'_>

Returns an iterator of the arguments that will be passed to the program.

This does not include the path to the program as the first argument; it only includes the arguments specified with Command::arg and Command::args.

Examples

use std::ffi::OsStr;
use std::process::Command;

let mut cmd = Command::new("echo");
cmd.arg("first").arg("second");
let args: Vec<&OsStr> = cmd.get_args().collect();
assert_eq!(args, &["first", "second"]);

pub fn get_envs(&self) -> CommandEnvs<'_>

Returns an iterator of the environment variables that will be set when the process is spawned.

Each element is a tuple (&OsStr, Option<&OsStr>), where the first value is the key, and the second is the value, which is None if the environment variable is to be explicitly removed.

This only includes environment variables explicitly set with Command::env, Command::envs, and Command::env_remove. It does not include environment variables that will be inherited by the child process.

Examples

use std::ffi::OsStr;
use std::process::Command;

let mut cmd = Command::new("ls");
cmd.env("TERM", "dumb").env_remove("TZ");
let envs: Vec<(&OsStr, Option<&OsStr>)> = cmd.get_envs().collect();
assert_eq!(envs, &[
    (OsStr::new("TERM"), Some(OsStr::new("dumb"))),
    (OsStr::new("TZ"), None)
]);

pub fn get_current_dir(&self) -> Option<&Path>

Returns the working directory for the child process.

This returns None if the working directory will not be changed.

Examples

use std::path::Path;
use std::process::Command;

let mut cmd = Command::new("ls");
assert_eq!(cmd.get_current_dir(), None);
cmd.current_dir("/bin");
assert_eq!(cmd.get_current_dir(), Some(Path::new("/bin")));

Trait Implementations

impl CommandExt for Command

This is supported on Unix only.

fn uid(&mut self, id: u32) -> &mut Command

Sets the child process’s user ID. This translates to a setuid call in the child process. Failure in the setuid call will cause the spawn to fail.

fn gid(&mut self, id: u32) -> &mut Command

Similar to uid, but sets the group ID of the child process. This has the same semantics as the uid field.

fn groups(&mut self, groups: &[u32]) -> &mut Command

🔬 This is a nightly-only experimental API. (setgroups #90747)

Sets the supplementary group IDs for the calling process. Translates to a setgroups call in the child process.

unsafe fn pre_exec<F>(&mut self, f: F) -> &mut Command where
    F: FnMut() -> Result<()> + Send + Sync + 'static, 

Schedules a closure to be run just before the exec function is invoked.

fn exec(&mut self) -> Error

Performs all the required setup by this Command, followed by calling the execvp syscall.

fn arg0<S>(&mut self, arg: S) -> &mut Command where
    S: AsRef<OsStr>, 

Set executable argument

fn process_group(&mut self, pgroup: i32) -> &mut Command

🔬 This is a nightly-only experimental API. (process_set_process_group #93857)

Sets the process group ID of the child process. Translates to a setpgid call in the child process.

fn before_exec<F>(&mut self, f: F) -> &mut Command where
    F: FnMut() -> Result<()> + Send + Sync + 'static, 

👎 Deprecated since 1.37.0:

should be unsafe, use pre_exec instead

Schedules a closure to be run just before the exec function is invoked.

impl CommandExt for Command

This is supported on Linux only.

fn create_pidfd(&mut self, val: bool) -> &mut Command

🔬 This is a nightly-only experimental API. (linux_pidfd #82971)

Sets whether a PidFd should be created for the Child spawned by this Command. By default, no pidfd will be created.

impl CommandExt for Command

This is supported on Windows only.

fn creation_flags(&mut self, flags: u32) -> &mut Command

Sets the process creation flags to be passed to CreateProcess.

fn force_quotes(&mut self, enabled: bool) -> &mut Command

🔬 This is a nightly-only experimental API. (windows_process_extensions_force_quotes #82227)

Forces all arguments to be wrapped in quote (") characters.

fn raw_arg<S: AsRef<OsStr>>(&mut self, raw_text: S) -> &mut Command

🔬 This is a nightly-only experimental API. (windows_process_extensions_raw_arg #29494)

Append literal text to the command line without any quoting or escaping.

impl Debug for Command

fn fmt(&self, f: &mut Formatter<'_>) -> Result

Format the program and arguments of a Command for display. Any non-utf8 data is lossily converted using the utf8 replacement character.