How do you run a .bat file from PHP?

When you use the exec() function, it is as though you have a cmd terminal open and are typing commands straight to it.

Use single quotes like this $str = exec('start /B Path\to\batch.bat');
The /B means the bat will be executed in the background so the rest of the php will continue after running that line, as opposed to $str = exec('start /B /C command', $result); where command is executed and then result is stored for later use.

PS: It works for both Windows and Linux.
More details are here http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.exec.php :)

<?php
exec('c:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe /c START C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.bat');
?>

You might need to run it via cmd, eg:

system("cmd /c C:[path to file]");