my $cmd = sprintf("perl %s", $update_location);
system($cmd);
[download]

You could avoid shelling out /bin/sh and a new instance of perl via require:

require $update_location;
[download]

This way your required script will also run with taint checking, which is always a good thing to do for CGI scripts (++ for the OP for that alone). Some points to be aware of:

• $update_location must be an absolute path
• it inherits globals from the current process
• it must return a true value; this can be done by placing a line containing 1; at the end of the script $update_location
• the invoking script MUST NOT be persistent (e.g. running under mod_perl or fastcgi) since requiring is done only once

This might fit - or not - your requirements; it is just another way to do it (and a safer one IMHO).

---

---

Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!

Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.

Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.

Please read these before you post! —

• How do I compose an effective node title?
• How do I post a question effectively?
• Markup in the Monastery

Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:

a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr

You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)

	For:		Use:
	&		&
	<		&lt;
	>		&gt;
	[		&#91;
	]		&#93;

Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?

See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.