title: Run a complex grep command with Python
body: <p>Im trying to run this grep compound command that works fine on cmd</p>
  
  <pre><code>grep Rec sy.log | grep e612r2246s768 | grep 2013-07 | grep -oh "'.*'" | wc -c
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>But something is wrong here, and I can't see it yet:</p>
  
  <pre><code>import commands
  commands.getstatus("""/bin/grep Rec /var/log/sy.log | /bin/grep e612r2246s768 | /bin/grep 2013-07 | /bin/grep -oh "'.*'" | /usr/bin/wc -c""")
  Out[2]: 'ls: cannot access /bin/grep Rec /var/log/sy.log | /bin/grep e612r2246s768 | /bin/grep 2013-07 | /bin/grep -oh "\'.*\'" | /usr/bin/wc -c: No such file or directory'
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Using subprocess:</p>
  
  <pre><code>import subprocess
  cmd = ["""/bin/grep Rec /var/log/sy.log | /bin/grep e612r2246s768 | /bin/grep 2013-07 | /bin/grep -oh "'.*'" | /usr/bin/wc -c"""]
  proc = subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
  OSError                                   Traceback (most recent call last)
  /home/www-data/gpslistener/scripts/&lt;ipython-input-24-0881e54c5eab&gt; in &lt;module&gt;()
  ----&gt; 1 proc = subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
  
  /usr/lib/python2.7/subprocess.pyc in __init__(self, args, bufsize, executable, stdin, stdout, stderr, preexec_fn, close_fds, shell, cwd, env, universal_newlines, startupinfo, creationflags)
      677                             p2cread, p2cwrite,
      678                             c2pread, c2pwrite,
  --&gt; 679                             errread, errwrite)
      680 
      681         if mswindows:
  
  /usr/lib/python2.7/subprocess.pyc in _execute_child(self, args, executable, preexec_fn, close_fds, cwd, env, universal_newlines, startupinfo, creationflags, shell, p2cread, p2cwrite, c2pread, c2pwrite, errread, errwrite)
     1247                     if fd is not None:
     1248                         os.close(fd)
  -&gt; 1249                 raise child_exception
     1250 
     1251 
  
  OSError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>PD: The paths are ok, thanks</p>