Write os.system Output in File Using Python

Below, are some of the approaches to write os.system Output In File Using Python

Using os.system() with > operator
Using os.system() with >> operator to append output
Using os.system() with 1> operator for stdout
Using os.system() with 2> operator for stderr

Write os.system Output In File Using os.system() with > operator

The below Python code uses os.system() to execute the “dir” command, redirecting its output to a file named “output.txt” using the “>” operator, and prints either “Successfully executed” or “Failed” based on the exit code (0 for success).

Python3

import os
 
# specifying the command
command = "dir"
 
# specifying output file name
output_file = "output.txt"
 
# using os.system to run the command and redirect the output to a file
execute = os.system(f"{command} > {output_file}")
if execute == 0:
    print("Successfully executed")
else:
    print("Failed")

Output:

Successfully executed

Write os.system Output In File Using os.system() with >> operator

The below Python code uses os.system() to execute the “echo hello” command, appending its output to a file named “output.txt” using the “>>” operator. The code then prints either “File successfully created” or “Failed is not created” based on the exit code (0 for success).

Python3

import os
 
# specifying the command you want to run
command = "echo hello"
 
# specifying the file where you want to store the output
output_file = "output.txt"
 
# using os.system to run the command and redirect the output to a file
execute = os.system(f"{command} >> {output_file}")
if not(execute):
    print("File successfully created ")
else:
    print ("Failed is not created")

Output:

File successfully created

Write os.system Output In File Using os.system() with 1> operator for stdout

The below Python code uses os.system() to execute the “echo” command, redirecting its standard output (stdout) to a file named “output.txt” using the “1>” operator. The code prints a success message or an error message based on the execution result.

Python3

import os
 
#specifing command 
command = 'echo "Hello, World!" 1> output.txt' 
 
try:
    os.system(command)
    print("Command executed successfully. Stdout redirected to output.txt")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"An error occurred: {e}")

Output:

Command executed successfully. Stdout redirected to output.txt

Using os.system() with 2> operator for stderr

The below Python code uses os.system() to execute the ‘del‘ command, attempting to delete a file named ‘output1.txt’, and redirects any error output (stderr) to a file named ‘error.txt‘ using the ‘2>‘ operator. It then displays the content of ‘error.txt‘ using the ‘type‘ command on Windows, providing information about any errors encountered during the execution.

Python3

import os
 
command = 'del output1.txt 2> error.txt'
 
try:
    # command using os.system()
    os.system(command)
     
    # display the error output using 'type' command
    os.system('type error.txt')
 
except Exception as e:
    print(f"An error occurred: {e}")

Output:

Could Not Find D:\File_Location\output1.txt

Conclusion

In conclusion, we can execute system command in Python and redirecting the output to a file can be achieved using either ‘os.system’. Python os module makes it easy to work with system operations, offering options for both quick tasks and more intericate process. We can use various commands with Python “os.system()” method. In this post, we use all most all techniques how to use this commands with os.system() command.