Bootstrap Drupal 7 for automated maintenance scripts

Why you should bootstrap Drupal 7

I don't always build websites with Drupal 7, but when I do they are usually large and complex applications. And large applications are typically accompanied by command line scripts to automate maintenance tasks, such as:

• Data migration
• Data export
• Data backup
• Report creation
• Cache clearing

Yes, it is possible to build a custom Drupal module and invoke its methods with an authenticated HTTP request; but that approach requires the full web stack and is inherently bound by the web server's time limit. Instead, it is best to move Drupal maintenance tasks into separate, stand-alone PHP scripts that may be executed on the command line — manually or as scheduled cron tasks. However, each PHP script must first bootstrap Drupal 7 before it can access the Drupal 7 API.

How to bootstrap Drupal 7

Bootstrapping Drupal 7 is remarkably easy. Add this snippet of code at the top of your PHP script:

<?php
// Set the absolute path to the Drupal site's document root directory
define('DRUPAL_ROOT', '/var/www/public');

// Ensure the REMOTE_ADDR server variable is set
$_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] = '127.0.0.1';

// Load Drupal
require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/includes/bootstrap.inc';
drupal_bootstrap(DRUPAL_BOOTSTRAP_FULL);

That's it. After you include this code in your PHP script, you can use the complete Drupal 7 API to manipulate your Drupal website from your command line PHP script. Be sure you change the DRUPAL_ROOT value so that it points to your own Drupal website's document root directory.