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[Home](./index.md) &gt; [bitburner](./bitburner.md) &gt; [NS](./bitburner.ns.md) &gt; [exec](./bitburner.ns.exec.md)

## NS.exec() method

Start another script on any server.

**Signature:**

```typescript
exec(
    script: string,
    hostname: string,
    threadOrOptions?: number | RunOptions,
    ...args: (string | number | boolean)[]
  ): number;
```

## Parameters

|  Parameter | Type | Description |
|  --- | --- | --- |
|  script | string | Filename of script to execute. This file must already exist on the target server. |
|  hostname | string | Hostname of the <code>target server</code> on which to execute the script. |
|  threadOrOptions | number \| [RunOptions](./bitburner.runoptions.md) | _(Optional)_ Either an integer number of threads for new script, or a [RunOptions](./bitburner.runoptions.md) object. Threads defaults to 1. |
|  args | (string \| number \| boolean)\[\] | Additional arguments to pass into the new script that is being run. Note that if any arguments are being passed into the new script, then the third argument threadOrOptions must be filled in with a value. |

**Returns:**

number

Returns the PID of a successfully started script, and 0 otherwise.

## Remarks

RAM cost: 1.3 GB

Run a script as a separate process on a specified server. This is similar to the function [run](./bitburner.ns.run.md) except that it can be used to run a script that already exists on any server, instead of just the current server.

If the script was successfully started, then this function returns the PID of that script. Otherwise, it returns 0.

PID stands for Process ID. The PID is a unique identifier for each script. The PID will always be a positive integer.

Running this function with 0 or fewer threads will cause a runtime error.

## Example


```js
// The simplest way to use the exec command is to call it with just the script name
// and the target server. The following example will try to run generic-hack.js
// on the foodnstuff server.
ns.exec("generic-hack.js", "foodnstuff");

// The following example will try to run the script generic-hack.js on the
// joesguns server with 10 threads.
ns.exec("generic-hack.js", "joesguns", {threads: 10});

// This last example will try to run the script foo.js on the foodnstuff server
// with 5 threads. It will also pass the number 1 and the string “test” in as
// arguments to the script.
ns.exec("foo.js", "foodnstuff", 5, 1, "test");
```

