You can run a command in perl using (for example) backticks or the system function.

Both of these will invoke a new shell, which will run in a new child process under the process currently running your perl script. The child will inherit any enviroment variables set by your perl script, but any enviroment varaibles set by the child will be lost when the child ends.

you can check the return code of the command in perl using $?. 

system("./some_command_that_might_set_ENVs.sh");
if ($? == -1) {
  print "failed to execute: $!\n";
}

[download]
---
my name's not Keith, and I'm not reasonable.

In reply to Re: shell script via perl (clarification) by reasonablekeith
in thread shell script via perl (clarification) by toronto75

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • 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! —
  • 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:
    & &amp;
    < &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.