Run a php shell from an php exec on a site - php

Question

I have a problem when i try to run this exec statement. The exec wont start the php shell file as i want it too.
I've tried using shell_exec but that wont work either. And when i try to echo out the returning array and var i get the var to "1" and an empty array.
Here is my code I'm trying to execute:
<?php
$user = $_GET['u'];
session_start();
if ($_SESSION['user'] === $user) {
$sID = $_GET['si'];
exec('php C:\\xampp\\htdocs\\r\\pages\\create-csgo-server3.php');
echo 'Server is being created.<br>';
} else {
echo 'Permission denied.';
}
?>
It says "Server is being created." but it wont run the exec correctly.
php C:\xampp\htdocs\r\pages\create-csgo-server3.php
I tried putting this over into the cmd and it worked correctly.
Thank you for taking your time!

Answer 1

I'm sure there is a duplicate, but while I'm searching; the webserver user (user that runs Apache or IIS, etc.) doesn't have the path to php.exe in its path environment variable, but you must as it works for your user in a terminal. Always use full paths:
exec('C:/path/to/php C:/xampp/htdocs/r/pages/create-csgo-server3.php');