Run php from the command line linux - php

Question

I am trying to run a php file from the command line (I want to eventually put it in a cron job) on an Ubuntu server. Nothing seems to happen when I enter the command. I've tried:
php -f foo.php
and
php foo.php
I have cli installed and the foo.php is set to executable.
The script should be testing whether it still has access to a database and emailing the results. It works fine when reached from the web browser.
Any idea on what I'm doing wrong?
EDIT:
Output from php -v
Copyright (c) 1997-2012 The PHP Group
Zend Engine v2.3.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2012 Zend Technologies
with Suhosin v0.9.33, Copyright (c) 2007-2012, by SektionEins GmbH
EDIT:
The script:
<?php
require_once __DIR__.'/../Classes/DBConnection.php';
require_once __DIR__.'/../Classes/Mail.php';
$dbSlave = DBConnection::getSlaveDB();
$db = DBConnection::getDB();
$unique = uniqid();
try{
$query = 'INSERT INTO tblzzTestSlave (token) VALUES (:token)';
$statement = $db->prepare($query);
$statement->bindValue(':token', $unique);
$statement->execute();
$slaveQuery = "SELECT id FROM tblzzTestSlave WHERE token=:token";
$slave = $dbSlave->prepare($slaveQuery);
$slave->bindValue(':token', $unique);
$slave->execute();
$result = $slave->fetch();
}catch (Exception $e){
$result = null;
}
if(!$result){
Mail::smtpMailer('email', 'email', 'from','Slave Not Working', 'The Slave has stopped working');
}

Answer 1

You may check if PHP uses the correct configuration file.
That may be different on the command line and running in a server environment.
Type this to see which config it uses:
php --ini

Answer 2

I was stupid. This line:
require_once __DIR__.'/../Classes/Mail.php';
Mail required another file which attempted to check the session cookie. Which of course I didn't have because I was running it from the command line. This is why it worked in the browser (I was signed in). When there is not session cookie it would attempt to redirect me to the sign in page which obviously doesn't work from the CL.