Introduction to Bash Scripting

Shell is the core part of Linux. It allows you to interact with the Linux kernel by using various commands like cd, ls, cat etc.

Bash is one of the many available shells for Linux. They have mostly common but not identical syntax. Bash is the most popular shell out there and is the default on most Linux distributions.

You open a terminal or SSH session and you have a shell running in it even if you cannot really visualize it.

When you type a command, it is interpreted by the shell. If the command and syntax are correct, it will be executed otherwise you’ll see an error.

Why bash scripts when you can just run Linux commands?

You can enter the commands directly in the terminal and they will be executed.

abhishek@itsfoss:~$ echo "hello world"
hello world

And the same can be done in a script as well:

abhishek@itsfoss:~$ cat >> script.sh
#!/bin/bash echo "hello world"
abhishek@itsfoss:~$ bash script.sh
hello world

Why do you need shell scripts then? Because you don’t have to type the same command again and again. You just run the shell script.

Also, if you have complicated logic in your script, typing it all in the terminal won’t be a good idea.

For example, if you enter the command below, it will work. But it is not easy to understand and typing it again and again (or even searching for it in the bash history) is a pain.

if [ $(whoami) = 'root' ]; then echo "root"; else echo "not root"; fi

Instead, you can put in a shell script so that it is easier to understand and run it effortlessly:

#!/bin/bash if [ $(whoami) = 'root' ]; then echo "You are root"
else echo "You are not root"
fi

This was still simple. Imagine a complicated script with fifty or a hundred lines!

What will you learn?

There are nine sections in this bash scripting tutorial. You’ll learn to:

• Create and run your first bash shell script
• Use variables
• Pass arguments and accept user inputs in your bash scripts
• Perform mathematical calculations
• Manipulate strings
• Use conditional statements like if-else
• Use for, while and until loops
• Create functions

Who is the target audience?

Anyone who wants to start learning bash shell scripting.

If you are a student with shell scripting as part of your course curriculum, this series is for you.

If you are a regular desktop Linux user, this series will help you understand most shell scripts you come across while exploring various software and fixes. You could also use it to automate some common, repetitive tasks.

By the end of this bash scripting tutorial, you should be able to write simple bash scripts.

If you are absolutely new to the Linux command line, I advise you to get the basics right first.

19 Basic But Essential Linux Terminal Tips You Must KnowLearn some small, basic but often ignored things about the terminal. With the small tips, you should be able to use the terminal with slightly more efficiency.

You should understand how to go to a specific location in the command line. For that, you need to understand how path works in the Linux filesystem works.

Absolute vs Relative Path in Linux: What’s the Difference?In this essential Linux learning chapter, know about the relative and absolute paths in Linux. What’s the difference between them and which one should you use.

Next, this tutorial series gives you the basic of directory navigation and file manipulation.

Getting Started With Linux TerminalWant to know the basics of the Linux command line? Here’s a tutorial series with a hands-on approach.

1. Writing your first bash shell script

Create a new file named hello.sh:

nano hello.sh

This will open the nano editor in the terminal. Enter the following lines to it:

#!/bin/bash echo "Hello World"

Save and exit the nano editor by pressing the Ctrl+X key.

Now, you can run the bash shell script in the following manner:

bash hello.sh

And you should see the following output:

Hello World

Another way is to give the script execute permission first:

chmod u+x hello.sh

And then run it in this manner:

./hello.sh

Congratulations! You just ran your first bash script.

Bash Basics #1: Create and Run Your First Bash Shell ScriptStart learning bash scripting with this new series. Create and run your first bash shell script in the first chapter.

2. Using variables in bash scripts

Variables are declared in the following manner:

var=some_value

And then the variable is accessed like this:

$var

Let’s modify the previous script by adding a variable.

#!/bin/bash message="Hello World" echo $message

The output will still remain the same if you run this script:

Hello World

Bash Basics #2: Use Variables in Bash ScriptsIn this chapter of the Bash Basics series, learn about using variables in Bash scripts.

3. Passing arguments to bash script

You can pass arguments to a bash script while running it in the following manner:

./my_script.sh arg1 arg2

Inside the script, you can use $1 for the 1st argument, $2 for the 2nd argument and so on. $0 is a special variable that holds the name of the script being executed.

Now, create a new shell script named arguments.sh and add the following lines to it:

#!/bin/bash echo "Script name is: $0"
echo "First argument is: $1"
echo "Second argument is: $2"

Make it executable and run it like this:

abhishek@itsfoss:~$ ./argument.sh abhishek prakash
Script name is: ./argument.sh
First argument is: abhishek
Second argument is: prakash

Here’s a quick look at the special variables:

Special Variable	Description
$0	Script name
$1, $2…$9	Script arguments
${n}	Script arguments from 10 to 255
$#	Number of arguments
$@	All arguments together
$$	Process id of the current shell
$!	Process id of the last executed command
$?	Exit status of last executed command

You can also make your bash script interactive by accepting user input from the keyboard.

For that, you’ll have to use the read command. You can also use read -p command to prompt the user for the keyboard input without echo command.

#!/bin/bash echo "What is your name, stranger?"
read name
read -p "What's your full name, $name? " full_name
echo "Welcome, $full_name"

Now if you run this script, you’ll have to enter the ‘arguments’ when you are prompted for it.

abhishek@itsfoss:~$ ./argument.sh What is your name, stranger?
abhishek
What's your full name, abhishek? abhishek prakash
Welcome, abhishek prakash

Bash Basics #3: Pass Arguments and Accept User InputsLearn how to pass arguments to bash scripts and make them interactive in this chapter of the Bash Basics series.

4. Perform arithmetic operation

The syntax for arithmetic operations in the bash shell is this:

$((arithmetic_operation))

Here’s the list of the arithmetic operations you can perform in bash

Operator	Description
+	Addition
–	Subtraction
*	Multiplication
/	Integer division (without decimal)
%	Modulus division (only remainder)
**	Exponentiation (a to the power b)

Here’s an example of performing summation and subtraction in bash script:

#!/bin/bash read -p "Enter first number: " num1
read -p "Enter second number: " num2 sum=$(($num1+$num2))
sub=$(($num1-$num2))
echo "The summation of $num1 and $num2 is $sum"
echo "The substraction of $num2 from $num1 is $sub"

You can execute the shell script with random number of your choice.

There is a big problem if you try the divison. Bash only works with integers. It doesn’t have the concept of decimal numbers by default. And thus you’ll get 3 as the result of 10/3 instead of 3.333.

For floating point operations, you’ll have to use the bc command in this manner:

#!/bin/bash num1=50
num2=6 result=$(echo "$num1/$num2" | bc -l) echo "The result is $result"

And this time, you’ll see accurate result.

The result is 8.33333333333333333333

Bash Basics Series #4: Arithmetic OperationsIn the fourth chapter of the series, learn to use basic mathematics in Bash.

5. Using arrays in bash scripts

Instead of using multiple variables, you can use arrays in bash to store values in the same category.

You can declare an array like this:

distros=(Ubuntu Fedora SUSE "Arch Linux" Nix)

To access an element, use:

${array_name[N]}

Like most other programming languages, the array index starts at 0.

You can display all the elements of an array like this:

${array[*]}

And get the array length like this:

${#array_name[@]}

Bash Basics Series #5: Using Arrays in BashTime to use arrays in bash shell scripts in this chapter. Learn to add elements, delete them and get array length.

6. Basic string operation in Bash

Bash is capable of performing a number of string operations.

You can get the string length in this manner:

${#string}

Join two strings:

str3=$str1$str2

Extract a substring by providing the starting position of the substring and its length:

${string:$pos:$len}

Here’s an example:

You can also replace a portion of the given string:

${string/substr1/substr2}

And you can also delete a substring from the given string:

${string/substring}

Bash Basics Series #6: Handling String OperationsIn this chapter of the Bash Basics series, learn to perform various common string operations like extracting, replacing and deleting substrings.

7. Use conditional statements in Bash

You can add conditional logic to your bash scripts by using if or if-else statements. These statements end with fi.

The syntax for a single if statement is:

if [ condition ]; then your code
fi

Pay attention to the use [ ... ]; and then .

The syntax for if-else statement is:

if [ expression ]; then ## execute this block if condition is true else go to next elif [ expression ]; then ## execute this block if condition is true else go to next else ## if none of the above conditions are true, execute this block fi

Here’s a sample bash script that uses if-else statement:

#!/bin/bash read -p "Enter the number: " num mod=$(($num%2)) if [ $mod -eq 0 ]; then echo "Number $num is even"
else echo "Number $num is odd"
fi

Run it and you should see a result like this:

The -eq is called test condition or conditional operator. There are many such operators to give you different types of comparison:

Here are the test condition operators you can use for numeric comparison:

Condition	Equivalent to true when
$a -lt $b	$a $b ($a is less than $b)
$a -gt $b	$a > $b ($a is greater than $b)
$a -le $b	$a = $b ($a is less or equal than $b)
$a -ge $b	$a >= $b ($a is greater or equal than $b)
$a -eq $b	$a is equal to $b
$a -ne $b	$a is not equal to $b

If you are comparing strings, you can use these test conditions:

Condition	Equivalent to true when
“$a” = “$b”	$a is same as $b
“$a” == “$b”	$a is same as $b
“$a” != “$b”	$a is different from $b
-z “$a”	$a is empty

There are also conditions for file type check:

Condition	Equivalent to true when
-f $a	$a is a file
-d $a	$a is a directory
-L $a	$a is a link

Bash Basics Series #7: If Else StatementIf this, then that else something else. Doesn’t make sense? It will after you learn about the if-else statements in bash shell scripting.

8. Using loops in bash scripts

Bash support three types of loops: for, while and until.

Here’s an example of the for loop:

#!/bin/bash for num in {1..10}; do echo $num
done

Run it and you’ll see the following output:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

If you take the previous example, it can be rewritten using the while loop like this:

#!/bin/bash num=1
while [ $num -le 10 ]; do echo $num num=$(($num+1))
done

And the same can be rewritten using the until loop:

#!/bin/bash num=1
until [ $num -gt 10 ]; do echo $num num=$(($num+1))
done

Bash Basics #8: For, While and Until LoopsIn the penultimate chapter of the Bash Basics series, learn about for, while and until loops.

9. Using functions in bash scripts

Bash shell does support the use of functions so that you don’t have to write the same piece of code again and again.

Here’s the generic syntax for declaring a bash function:

function_name() { commands
}

Here’s a sample bash script that uses function with arguments:

#!/bin/bash sum() { sum=$(($1+$2)) echo "The sum of $1 and $2 is: $sum"
} echo "Let's use the sum function"
sum 1 5

If you run the script, you’ll see the following output:

Let's use the sum function
The sum of 1 and 5 is: 6

Bash Basics Series #9: Functions in BashLearn all about functions in the final chapter of the Bash Basics series.

Where to go from here?

This is just a glimpse. This bash scripting tutorial is just a primer. There is a lot more to bash scripting and you can explore it slowly and gradually.

The GNU bash reference is an excellent online resource to clean your bash doubts.

Bash Reference ManualBash Reference Manual

##Apart from that, you can download this free book to learn more bash stuff which is not covered here:

Once you have enough knowledge of the bash basics, you can learn advance bash scripting with this free book:

Both of these books are at least a decade old but you can still use them to learn bash.

💬 I hope you like this tutorial as the starting point of your bash script learning. Please provide your feedback in the comments section.