How to pass multiple arguments within subprocess.check_call()?

Question

How can I pass multiple arguments within my subprocess call in python while running my shell script?

import subprocess

subprocess.check_call('./test_bash.sh '+arg1 +arg2, shell=True)

This prints out the arg1 and arg2 concatenated as one argument. I would need to pass 3 arguments to my shell script.

can you try check_call(['./test_bash.sh',arg1,arg2],shell=True) ? or drop shell=True and add ["sh","-c", before your bash script? — Jean-François Fabre
– Jean-François Fabre ♦, Commented Oct 16, 2018 at 18:21

Jean-François Fabre · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-16 18:40:04Z

3

of course it concatenates because you're not inserting a space between them. Quickfix would be (with format, and can fail if some arguments contain spaces)

 subprocess.check_call('./test_bash.sh {} {}'.format(arg1,arg2), shell=True)

can you try (more robust, no need to quote spaces, automatic command line generation):

check_call(['./test_bash.sh',arg1,arg2],shell=True)`

(not sure it works on all systems because of shell=True and argument list used together)

or drop shell=True and call the shell explicitly (may fail because shebang is not considered, unlike with shell=True, but it's worth giving up shell=True, liable to code injection among other issues):

check_call(['sh','-c','./test_bash.sh',arg1,arg2])

edited Oct 16, 2018 at 18:40

answered Oct 16, 2018 at 18:23

Jean-François Fabre♦

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3 Comments

nlp Over a year ago

awesome, that did it.

nlp Over a year ago

how can I pass the same multiple arguments that are stored as a list such as arg1={}, arg2={} and I'd like the script to use arg1[0], arg2[0] first and then increment to next arg1[1], arg2[1].

Jean-François Fabre Over a year ago

just create a list that you'll add to the "first arguments" list. but you'll need to zip & flatten: ["sh','-c","test_bash_whatever] + list(itertools.chain.from_iterable(zip(arg1,arg2))) something like that

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