mix cmd — Mix v1.16.3

Search documentation of Mix

# View Source mix cmd (Mix v1.16.3)

Executes the given command.

For example, you can invoke an external command such as make:

    $ mix cmd make

By passing the `--cd` flag before the command, you can also force the command to run in a specific directory:

    $ mix cmd --cd "third-party" make

This task is also useful in umbrella applications to execute a command on each child app:

    $ mix cmd pwd

You can limit which apps the cmd runs in by using `mix do` with the `--app` option:

    $ mix do --app app1 --app app2 cmd pwd

The tasks aborts whenever a command exits with a non-zero status.

This task is automatically re-enabled, so it can be called multiple times with different arguments.

## Command line options

- `--app` - limit running the command to the given app. This option is currently deprecated in favor of `mix do --app`

- `--cd` - (since v1.10.4) the directory to run the command in

## Zombie operating system processes

Beware that the Erlang VM does not terminate child processes when it shuts down. Therefore, if you use `mix cmd` to start long running processes and then shut down the VM, it is likely that those child processes won't be terminated with the VM.

A solution is to make sure the child processes listen to the standard input and terminate when standard input is closed. We discuss this topic at length in the "Zombie operating system processes" of the `Port` module documentation.