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Shell Scripting Guide

This document is a comprehensive guide to shell scripting, covering topics from basic commands to advanced techniques. It includes sections on variables, conditional statements, loops, functions, error handling, and practical examples, as well as best practices and interview questions. The guide aims to help users automate tasks in Linux/Unix environments using various shell types.

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0 views8 pages

Shell Scripting Guide

This document is a comprehensive guide to shell scripting, covering topics from basic commands to advanced techniques. It includes sections on variables, conditional statements, loops, functions, error handling, and practical examples, as well as best practices and interview questions. The guide aims to help users automate tasks in Linux/Unix environments using various shell types.

Uploaded by

jawarimandiofficial
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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[Date] Shell Scripting

Guide
(Beginner to Advanced)

Prakash Reddy
1

Table of Contents
1. What is Shell Scripting?
2. Hello World & Basics
3. Variables
4. Input & Output (read, echo)
5. Conditional Statements (if, if-else, case)
6. Loops (for, while, until)
7. Functions
8. Exit Status & Return Values
9. Command Line Arguments
10. Arrays
11. String & File Manipulations
12. File Test Operators
13. Error Handling
14. Cron Jobs
15. Practical Examples
16. Advanced Topics
17. Best Practices
18. Interview Questions
2

What is Shell Scripting?


Shell scripting is writing a series of Linux/Unix commands in a file and executing them to
automate tasks.

Automates: Backups, software installs, user creation, monitoring, deployments


Shell Types: bash, sh, zsh, ksh

Hello World & Basics


#!/bin/bash
echo "Hello, World!"

• #!/bin/bash: Shebang — tells the system to use Bash shell


• echo: Prints output

Run:

chmod +x script.sh
./script.sh

Variables
name="Prakash"
echo "Welcome $name"

• No space around =
• Use $ to access

Input & Output


read -p "Enter your name: " username
echo "Hello, $username"

• read: Reads user input


• -p: Prompts during read

Conditional Statements
if Statement
3

if [ "$age" -ge 18 ]; then


echo "Adult"
fi

if-else
if [ "$age" -ge 18 ]; then
echo "Adult"
else
echo "Minor"
fi

elif
if [ "$score" -gt 90 ]; then
echo "Excellent"
elif [ "$score" -gt 50 ]; then
echo "Pass"
else
echo "Fail"
fi

case Statement
read -p "Enter choice: " ch
case $ch in
1) echo "Start" ;;
2) echo "Stop" ;;
*) echo "Invalid" ;;
esac

Loops
for Loop
for i in 1 2 3; do
echo "Number: $i"
done

while Loop
count=1
while [ $count -le 5 ]; do
echo "Count: $count"
((count++))
done

Functions
greet() {
4

echo "Hello $1"


}
greet "Prakash"

• $1: First argument to function

Exit Status
• $?: Last command exit status
• 0: Success, non-zero: Failure

ls file.txt
echo "Status: $?"

Command Line Arguments


#!/bin/bash
echo "Script: $0"
echo "First Arg: $1"
echo "All Args: $@"

Special variables

• $1, $2, $3
• All variables passed: $@
• number of variables: $#
• script name: $0
• present working directory: $PWD
• home directory of current user: $HOME
• which user is running this script: $USER
• process id of current script: $$
• process id of last command in background: $!

Arrays
fruits=("Apple" "Banana" "Cherry")
echo "First: ${fruits[0]}"
echo "All: ${fruits[@]}"
5

String & File Manipulations


String
str="DevOps"
echo "Length: ${#str}"
echo "Sub: ${str:0:3}"

File Read
while read line; do
echo "$line"
done < filename.txt

File Test Operators


if [ -f file.txt ]; then echo "File exists"; fi
if [ -d folder ]; then echo "Directory exists"; fi
Operator Test
-f Regular file
-d Directory
-s Not empty
-e Exists
-r Read permission

Error Handling
command || echo "Command failed"
command && echo "Command succeeded"

Cron Jobs
Edit cron:

crontab -e

Cron syntax:

# ┌──────── min (0 - 59)


# │ ┌────── hour (0 - 23)
# │ │ ┌──── day (1 - 31)
# │ │ │ ┌── month (1 - 12)
# │ │ │ │ ┌─ weekday (0 - 6; Sunday = 0)
# │ │ │ │ │
# * * * * * command
6

Example:

0 1 * * * /home/user/backup.sh

Practical Examples
Backup Script
#!/bin/bash
src="/var/www/html"
dest="/backup/html_$(date +%F).tar.gz"
tar -czf $dest $src
echo "Backup saved at $dest"

Create Users in Bulk


#!/bin/bash
for user in user1 user2 user3; do
useradd $user
echo "$user:Password123" | chpasswd
done

Advanced Topics
set -e, set -x

set -e # Exit on error


set -x # Debug mode

trap (Cleanup on Exit)


trap "echo 'Script interrupted'" SIGINT

Logging
exec > >(tee -i log.txt)
exec 2>&1
7

Best Practices
Practice Why It Matters
Use #!/bin/bash Defines shell explicitly
Use set -euo pipefail Makes script fail-safe
Use quotes around variables Avoids word splitting & globbing
Handle errors Prevents silent failures
Use functions Improves reusability
Use logging Easier debugging & audit

Shell Scripting Interview Questions


1. Difference between " and ' in Bash?
2. How to debug a shell script?
3. What is the use of $?, $0, $1, $@, $#?
4. How do you handle errors in a script?
5. Write a script to find if a number is even or odd.
6. What is the difference between [ and [[ in Bash?
7. Explain the role of trap, exec, and source.
8. How do you use cron to schedule jobs?
9. Difference between .bashrc and .bash_profile?
10. How to monitor a log file in real-time with a script?

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