Bash scripting Tutorial

Last Updated on Friday, 11 February 2011 11:20 Written by: Lubos Rendek

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This bash script tutorial assumes no previous knowledge of bash scripting.As you will soon discover in this quick comprehensive bash scripting guide, learning the bash shell scripting is very easy task. Lets begin this bash scripting tutorial with a simple "Hello World" script. Let's start with Learning the bash Shell: Unix Shell Programming Bash Scripting Beginners Guide FREE PDF DOWNLOAD Bash Scripting Advanced Guide FREE PDF DOWNLOAD

1. Hello World Bash Shell Script

First you need to find out where is your bash interpreter located. Enter the following into your command line:

$ which bash 

Open up you favorite text editor and a create file called hello_world.sh. Insert the following lines to a file:

NOTE:Every bash shell script in this tutorial starts with shebang:"#!" which is not read as a comment. First line is also a place where you put your interpreter which is in this case: /bin/bash.

Here is our first bash shell script example:

#!/bin/bash
# declare STRING variable
STRING="Hello World"
#print variable on a screen
echo $STRING

Navigate to a directory where your hello_world.sh is located and make the file executable:

$ chmod +x hello_world.sh 

Now you are ready to execute your first bash script:

./hello_world.sh 

2. Simple Backup bash shell script

#!/bin/bash
tar -czf myhome_directory.tar.gz /home/linuxconfig

3. Variables

In this example we declare simple bash variable and print it on the screen ( stdout ) with echo command.

#!/bin/bash
 STRING="HELLO WORLD!!!"
 echo $STRING 

Your backup script and variables:

#!/bin/bash
 OF=myhome_directory_$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz
 tar -czf $OF /home/linuxconfig 

3.1. Global vs. Local variables

#!/bin/bash
#Define bash global variable
#This variable is global and can be used anywhere in this bash script
VAR="global variable"
function bash {
#Define bash local variable
#This variable is local to bash function only
local VAR="local variable"
echo $VAR
}
echo $VAR
bash
# Note the bash global variable did not change
# "local" is bash reserved word
echo $VAR

4. Passing arguments to the bash script

#!/bin/bash
# use predefined variables to access passed arguments
#echo arguments to the shell
echo $1 $2 $3 ' -> echo $1 $2 $3'

# We can also store arguments from bash command line in special array
args=("$@")
#echo arguments to the shell
echo ${args[0]} ${args[1]} ${args[2]} ' -> args=("$@"); echo ${args[0]} ${args[1]} ${args[2]}'

#use $@ to print out all arguments at once
echo $@ ' -> echo $@'

# use $# variable to print out
# number of arguments passed to the bash script
echo Number of arguments passed: $# ' -> echo Number of arguments passed: $#' 

/arguments.sh Bash Scripting Tutorial 

5. Executing shell commands with bash

#!/bin/bash
# use backticks " ` ` " to execute shell command
echo `uname -o`
# executing bash command without backticks
echo uname -o 

6. Reading User Input

#!/bin/bash
 
echo -e "Hi, please type the word: \c "
read  word
echo "The word you entered is: $word"
echo -e "Can you please enter two words? "
read word1 word2
echo "Here is your input: \"$word1\" \"$word2\""
echo -e "How do you feel about bash scripting? "
# read command now stores a reply into the default build-in variable $REPLY
read
echo "You said $REPLY, I'm glad to hear that! "
echo -e "What are your favorite colours ? "
# -a makes read command to read into an array
read -a colours
echo "My favorite colours are also ${colours[0]}, ${colours[1]} and ${colours[2]}:-)" 

7. Bash Trap Command

#!/bin/bash
# bash trap command
trap bashtrap INT
# bash clear screen command
clear;
# bash trap function is executed when CTRL-C is pressed:
# bash prints message => Executing bash trap subrutine !
bashtrap()
{
    echo "CTRL+C Detected !...executing bash trap !"
}
# for loop from 1/10 to 10/10
for a in `seq 1 10`; do
    echo "$a/10 to Exit." 
    sleep 1;
done
echo "Exit Bash Trap Example!!!" 

8. Arrays

8.1. Declare simple bash array

#!/bin/bash
#Declare array with 4 elements
ARRAY=( 'Debian Linux' 'Redhat Linux' Ubuntu Linux )
# get number of elements in the array
ELEMENTS=${#ARRAY[@]}

# echo each element in array 
# for loop
for (( i=0;i<$ELEMENTS;i++)); do
    echo ${ARRAY[${i}]}
done 

8.2. Read file into bash array

#!/bin/bash
# Declare array
declare -a ARRAY
# Link filedescriptor 10 with stdin
exec 10<&0
# stdin replaced with a file supplied as a first argument
exec < $1
let count=0

while read LINE; do

    ARRAY[$count]=$LINE
    ((count++))
done

echo Number of elements: ${#ARRAY[@]}
# echo array's content
echo ${ARRAY[@]}
# restore stdin from filedescriptor 10
# and close filedescriptor 10
exec 0<&10 10<&-

Bash script execution with an output:

linuxconfig.org $ cat bash.txt 
Bash
Scripting
Tutorial
Guide
linuxconfig.org $ ./bash-script.sh bash.txt 
Number of elements: 4
Bash Scripting Tutorial Guide
linuxconfig.org $ 

9. Bash if / else / fi statements

9.1. Simple Bash if/else statement

Please note the spacing inside the [ and ] brackets! Without the spaces, it won't work!

#!/bin/bash
directory="./BashScripting"

# bash check if directory exists
if [ -d $directory ]; then
	echo "Directory exists"
else 
	echo "Directory does not exists"
fi 

9.2. Nested if/else

#!/bin/bash
 
# Declare variable choice and assign value 4
choice=4
# Print to stdout
 echo "1. Bash"
 echo "2. Scripting"
 echo "3. Tutorial"
 echo -n "Please choose a word [1,2 or 3]? "
# Loop while the variable choice is equal 4
# bash while loop
while [ $choice -eq 4 ]; do
 
# read user input
read choice
# bash nested if/else
if [ $choice -eq 1 ] ; then
 
        echo "You have chosen word: Bash"

else                   

        if [ $choice -eq 2 ] ; then
                 echo "You have chosen word: Scripting"
        else
         
                if [ $choice -eq 3 ] ; then
                        echo "You have chosen word: Tutorial"
                else
                        echo "Please make a choice between 1-3 !"
                        echo "1. Bash"
                        echo "2. Scripting"
                        echo "3. Tutorial"
                        echo -n "Please choose a word [1,2 or 3]? "
                        choice=4
                fi   
        fi
fi
done 

10. Bash Comparisons

10.1. Arithmetic Comparisons

#!/bin/bash
# declare integers
NUM1=2
NUM2=2
if [ $NUM1 -eq $NUM2 ]; then
	echo "Both Values are equal"
else 
	echo "Values are NOT equal"
fi 

#!/bin/bash
# declare integers
NUM1=2
NUM2=1
if [ $NUM1 -eq $NUM2 ]; then
	echo "Both Values are equal"
else 
	echo "Values are NOT equal"
fi 

#!/bin/bash
# declare integers
NUM1=2
NUM2=1
if   [ $NUM1 -eq $NUM2 ]; then
	echo "Both Values are equal"
elif [ $NUM1 -gt $NUM2 ]; then
	echo "NUM1 is greater then NUM2"
else 
	echo "NUM2 is greater then NUM1"
fi 

10.2. String Comparisons

#!/bin/bash
#Declare string S1
S1="Bash"
#Declare string S2
S2="Scripting"
if [ $S1 = $S2 ]; then
	echo "Both Strings are equal"
else 
	echo "Strings are NOT equal"
fi 

#!/bin/bash
#Declare string S1
S1="Bash"
#Declare string S2
S2="Bash"
if [ $S1 = $S2 ]; then
	echo "Both Strings are equal"
else 
	echo "Strings are NOT equal"
fi 

11. Bash File Testing

#!/bin/bash
file="./file"
if [ -e $file ]; then
	echo "File exists"
else 
	echo "File does not exists"
fi 

Similarly for example we can use while loop to check if file does not exists. This script will sleep until file does exists. Note bash negator "!" which negates the -e option.

#!/bin/bash
 
while [ ! -e myfile ]; do
# Sleep until file does exists/is created
sleep 1
done 

12. Loops

12.1. Bash for loop

#!/bin/bash

# bash for loop
for f in $( ls /var/ ); do
	echo $f
done 

Running for loop from bash shell command line:

$ for f in $( ls /var/ ); do echo $f; done 

12.2. Bash while loop

#!/bin/bash
COUNT=6
# bash while loop
while [ $COUNT -gt 0 ]; do
	echo Value of count is: $COUNT
	let COUNT=COUNT-1
done 

12.3. Bash until loop

#!/bin/bash
COUNT=0
# bash until loop
until [ $COUNT -gt 5 ]; do
        echo Value of count is: $COUNT
        let COUNT=COUNT+1
done 

12.4. Control bash loop with

Here is a example of while loop controlled by standard input. Until the redirection chain from STDOUT to STDIN to the read command exists the while loop continues.

#!/bin/bash
# This bash script will locate and replace spaces
# in the filenames
DIR="."
# Controlling a loop with bash read command by redirecting STDOUT as
# a STDIN to while loop
# find will not truncate filenames containing spaces
find $DIR -type f | while read file; do
# using POSIX class [:space:] to find space in the filename
if [[ "$file" = *[[:space:]]* ]]; then
# substitute space with "_" character and consequently rename the file
mv "$file" `echo $file | tr ' ' '_'`
fi;
# end of while loop
done 

13. Bash Functions

!/bin/bash
# BASH FUNCTIONS CAN BE DECLARED IN ANY ORDER
function function_B {
        echo Function B.
}
function function_A {
        echo $1
}
function function_D {
        echo Function D.
}
function function_C {
        echo $1
}
# FUNCTION CALLS
# Pass parameter to function A
function_A "Function A."
function_B
# Pass parameter to function C
function_C "Function C."
function_D 

14. Bash Select

#!/bin/bash
 
PS3='Choose one word: ' 

# bash select
select word in "linux" "bash" "scripting" "tutorial" 
do
  echo "The word you have selected is: $word"
# Break, otherwise endless loop
  break  
done

exit 0 

15. Case statement conditional

#!/bin/bash
echo "What is your preferred programming / scripting language"
echo "1) bash"
echo "2) perl"
echo "3) phyton"
echo "4) c++"
echo "5) I do not know !"
read case;
#simple case bash structure
# note in this case $case is variable and does not have to
# be named case this is just an example
case $case in
    1) echo "You selected bash";;
    2) echo "You selected perl";;
    3) echo "You selected phyton";;
    4) echo "You selected c++";;
    5) exit
esac 

16. Bash quotes and quotations

Quotations and quotes are important part of bash and bash scripting. Here are some bash quotes and quotations basics.

16.1. Escaping Meta characters

Before we start with quotes and quotations we should know something about escaping meta characters. Escaping will suppress a special meaning of meta characters and therefore meta characters will be read by bash literally. To do this we need to use backslash "\" character. Example:

#!/bin/bash
 
#Declare bash string variable
BASH_VAR="Bash Script"

# echo variable BASH_VAR
echo $BASH_VAR

#when meta character such us "$" is escaped with "\" it will be read literally
echo \$BASH_VAR 

# backslash has also special meaning and it can be suppressed with yet another "\"
echo "\\" 

16.2. Single quotes

Single quotes in bash will suppress special meaning of every meta characters. Therefore meta characters will be read literally. It is not possible to use another single quote within two single quotes not even if the single quote is escaped by backslash.

#!/bin/bash
 
 #Declare bash string variable
 BASH_VAR="Bash Script"
 
 # echo variable BASH_VAR
 echo $BASH_VAR
 
 # meta characters special meaning in bash is suppressed when  using single quotes 
 echo '$BASH_VAR  "$BASH_VAR"' 

16.3. Double Quotes

Double quotes in bash will suppress special meaning of every meta characters except "$", "\" and "`". Any other meta characters will be read literally. It is also possible to use single quote within double quotes. If we need to use double quotes within double quotes bash can read them literally when escaping them with "\". Example:

#!/bin/bash
 
#Declare bash string variable
BASH_VAR="Bash Script"

# echo variable BASH_VAR
echo $BASH_VAR

# meta characters and its special meaning in bash is 
# suppressed when using double quotes except "$", "\" and "`"

echo "It's $BASH_VAR  and \"$BASH_VAR\" using backticks: `date`" 

16.4. Bash quoting with ANSI-C style

There is also another type of quoting and that is ANSI-C. In this type of quoting characters escaped with "\" will gain special meaning according to the ANSI-C standard.

The syntax fo ansi-c bash quoting is: $'' . Here is an example:

#!/bin/bash
 
# as a example we have used \n as a new line, \x40 is hex value for @
# and \56 is octal value for .
echo $'web: www.linuxconfig.org\nemail: web\x40linuxconfig\56org' 

17. Arithmetic Operations

17.1. Bash Addition Calculator Example

#!/bin/bash
 
let RESULT1=$1+$2
echo $1+$2=$RESULT1 ' -> # let RESULT1=$1+$2'
declare -i RESULT2
RESULT2=$1+$2
echo $1+$2=$RESULT2 ' -> # declare -i RESULT2; RESULT2=$1+$2'
echo $1+$2=$(($1 + $2)) ' -> # $(($1 + $2))' 

17.2. Bash Arithmetics

#!/bin/bash
 
echo '### let ###'
# bash addition
let ADDITION=3+5
echo "3 + 5 =" $ADDITION

# bash subtraction
let SUBTRACTION=7-8
echo "7 - 8 =" $SUBTRACTION 

# bash multiplication
let MULTIPLICATION=5*8
echo "5 * 8 =" $MULTIPLICATION

# bash division
let DIVISION=4/2
echo "4 / 2 =" $DIVISION

# bash modulus
let MODULUS=9%4
echo "9 % 4 =" $MODULUS

# bash power of two
let POWEROFTWO=2**2
echo "2 ^ 2 =" $POWEROFTWO


echo '### Bash Arithmetic Expansion ###'
# There are two formats for arithmetic expansion: $[ expression ] 
# and $(( expression #)) its your choice which you use

echo 4 + 5 = $((4 + 5))
echo 7 - 7 = $[ 7 - 7 ]
echo 4 x 6 = $((3 * 2))
echo 6 / 3 = $((6 / 3))
echo 8 % 7 = $((8 % 7))
echo 2 ^ 8 = $[ 2 ** 8 ]


echo '### Declare ###'

echo -e "Please enter two numbers \c"
# read user input
read num1 num2
declare -i result
result=$num1+$num2
echo "Result is:$result "

# bash convert binary number 10001
result=2#10001
echo $result

# bash convert octal number 16
result=8#16
echo $result

# bash convert hex number 0xE6A
result=16#E6A
echo $result 

17.3. Round floating point number

#!/bin/bash
# get floating point number
floating_point_number=3.3446
echo $floating_point_number
# round floating point number with bash
for bash_rounded_number in $(printf %.0f $floating_point_number); do
echo "Rounded number with bash:" $bash_rounded_number
done 

17.4. Bash floating point calculations

#!/bin/bash
# Simple linux bash calculator 
echo "Enter input:" 
read userinput
echo "Result with 2 digits after decimal point:"
echo "scale=2; ${userinput}" | bc 
echo "Result with 10 digits after decimal point:"
echo "scale=10; ${userinput}" | bc 
echo "Result as rounded integer:"
echo $userinput | bc 

18. Redirections

18.1. STDOUT from bash script to STDERR

#!/bin/bash
 
 echo "Redirect this STDOUT to STDERR" 1>&2 

To proof that STDOUT is redirected to STDERR we can redirect script's output to file:

18.2. STDERR from bash script to STDOUT

#!/bin/bash
 
 cat $1 2>&1 

To proof that STDERR is redirected to STDOUT we can redirect script's output to file:

18.3. stdout to screen

The simple way to redirect a standard output ( stdout ) is to simply use any command, because by default stdout is automatically redirected to screen.

cat /proc/partitions 

18.4. stdout to file

Here we use ">" to redirect stdout to a file "partitions.txt".

cat /proc/partitions > partitions.txt 

18.5. stderr to file

In this example you will redirect the standard error ( stderr ) to a file and stdout to a default screen.

grep -r hda6 * . 2> stderr.txt 

18.6. stdout to stderr

In this case the output of a command will be written to the same descriptor as a stderr.

grep -r hda6 * . 1>&2 stderr.txt 

18.7. stderr to stdout

In this case the stderr of a command will be written to the same descriptor as a stdout.

grep -r hda6 * . 2>&1 stderr.txt 

18.8. stderr and stdout to file

grep -r hda6 * . &> stderr_and_stdout.txt 

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