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{{Admon/tipimportant|Bash Shell Scripting Tips:|<br><ul><li>'''She-bang line: #!/bin/bash'''<br><br>Shell scripts have evolved of the past 40 years. To avoid running a newer shell script on an older shell, it is recommended to force running the shell script in the correct shell. In order to do this, on the first line at the very beginning of the shell script, you add the '''#!''' ('''# as in "shhhh" - a comment''', and''' ! is referred to as "bang" run a commmand''': in this case, '''run the command: /bin/bash'''). You can issue the Linux command '''which bash''' to get the correct location. If there is no bash shell on that machine, the shell script will not run (as a precaution - the Linux admin will know how to make a fix to the shell script if required).<br> </li><li>'''Variables:'''<br><br> There are 3 types of variables that can be used in shell scripting: '''ENVIRONMENT''' (eg. $USER), '''user-defined''' ($varName), and '''positional parameters''' (eg. $1, $2... containing arguments after shell script or by using set command (eg. '''set $(ls)''' ). Using dollar sign ('''$''') in front of variable expands the value assigned.<br><br></li><li>'''Command Substitution:'''<br><br>A very useful trick to take output from a command to be used as an argument for another command. Examples include:<br>'''file $(ls)'''<br>'''set $(ls);echo $#;echo $*'''<br>'''echo "hostname: $(hostname)"'''<br><br><li>'''Logic Control Flow Statements:'''<br><br>The '''test''' command can be used to see if a condition is true or false<br>(i.e. test $USER = "root") . The '''$?''' special shell variable stores the result (zero if true, non-zero if false). Square brackets '''[ ]''' can be used to represent the test command with the condition <u>inside</u> the brackets (spaces separating brackets).Can use '''if''' / '''if-else''' / '''if-elif-else''' statements with brackets. The '''exit''' command can be used to terminate the shell script with a false value.<br><br>'''<u>Examples</u>'''<br><br>''if [ $USER = "root" ]''<br>''then''<br> ''echo "You must be root" >&2''<br> ''exit1''<br>''fi''<br><br># For number comparison: use:<br># -gt,-ge, -lt, -le, -eq, -ne<br><br>''if [ $age -gt 65 ]''<br>''then''<br> ''echo "retire"''<br>''else''<br> ''echo "don't retire"''<br>''fi''<br><br>''if [ $grade -gt 79 ]''<br>''then''<br> ''echo "You get Good Mark"''<br>''elif [ $grade -gt 49 ]''<br>''then''<br> ''echo "You pass"''<br>''else''<br> ''echo "You fail"''<br>''fi''<br></li></ul>}}
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You may have learned about creating and running Bash Shell Scripts in your ULI101 course. Shell scripts help Linux users and system administrators to automate repetitive tasks to become more efficient and to help them save time. You will be reviewing and building a basic Bash Shell script to generate information reports for your newly-installed Linux host machine. Take time to view Shell Scripting Tips which are located on the right-hand side.
