1.

 Hello World
Programmers often learn new languages via learning the hello world program. It’s a simple program that prints the
string “Hello World” to the standard output. Use an editor like vim or nano to create the file hello-world.sh and copy the
below lines into it.

#!/bin/bash

echo "Hello World"

Save and quit the file. You need to make this file executable using the below command.

$ chmod a+x hello-world.sh

You can run this using any of the below two commands.

$ bash hello-world.sh

$ ./hello-world.sh
It will print out the string passed to echo inside the script.

2. Using echo to Print

The echo command is used for printing out information in bash. It is similar to the C function ‘printf’ and provides many
common options, including escape sequences and re-direction.

Copy the below lines into a file called echo.sh and make it executable as done above.

#!/bin/bash

echo "Printing text"

echo -n "Printing text without newline"

echo -e "\nRemoving \t special \t characters\n"

Run the script to see what it does. The -e option is used for telling echo that the string passed to it contains special
characters and requires extended functionality.

3. Using Comments
Comments are useful for documentation and are a requirement for high-quality codebases. It’s a common practice to put
comments inside codes that deal with critical logic. To comment out a line, just use the #(hash) character before it. Check
the below bash script example.

#!/bin/bash

# Adding two values

((sum=25+35))
#Print the result

echo $sum
This script will output the number 60. Check how comments are used using # before some lines. The first line is an
exception, though. It’s called the shebang and lets the system know which interpreter to use when running this script.

4. Multi-line comments
Many people use multi-line comments for documenting their shell scripts. Check how this is done in the next script called
comment.sh.

#!/bin/bash

: '

This script calculates

the square of 5.

'

((area=5*5))

echo $area
Notice how multi-line comments are placed inside :’ and ‘ characters.

5. The While Loop

The while loop construct is used for running some instruction multiple times. Check out the following script called
while.sh for a better understanding of this concept.

#!/bin/bash

i=0

while [ $i -le 2 ]

do

echo Number: $i

((i++))

done
So, the while loop takes the below form.

while [ condition ]

do

commands 1
commands n

done
The space surrounding the square brackets are mandatory.

6. The For Loop

The for loop is another widely used bash shell construct that allows users to iterate over codes efficiently. A simple
example is demonstrated below.

#!/bin/bash

for (( counter=1; counter<=10; counter++ ))

do

echo -n "$counter "

done

printf "\n"
Save this code in a file named for.sh and run it using ./for.sh. Don’t forget to make it executable. This program should
print out the numbers 1 to 10.

7. Receive Input from User

Getting user input is crucial to implement user interaction in your scripts. The below shell script example will demonstrate
how to receive user input within a shell program.

#!/bin/bash

echo -n "Enter Something:"

read something

echo "You Entered: $something"

So, the read construct followed by a variable name, is used for getting user input. The input is stored inside this variable
and can be accessed using the $ sign.

8. The If Statement
If statements are the most common conditional construct available in Unix shell scripting, they take the form shown
below.

if CONDITION
then

STATEMENTS

fi
The statements are only executed given the CONDITION is true. The fi keyword is used for marking the end of the if
statement. A quick example is shown below.

#!/bin/bash

echo -n "Enter a number: "

read num

if [[ $num -gt 10 ]]

then

echo "Number is greater than 10."

fi
The above program will only show the output if the number provided via input is greater than ten. The -gt stands for
greater than; similarly -lt for less than; -le for less than equal; and -ge for greater than equal. The [[ ]] are required.

9. More Control Using If Else

Combining the else construct with if allows much better control over your script’s logic. A simple example is shown
below.

#!/bin/bash

read n

if [ $n -lt 10 ];

then

echo "It is a one digit number"

else

echo "It is a two digit number"

fi
The else part needs to be placed after the action part of if and before fi.

10. Using the AND Operator

The AND operator allows our program to check if multiple conditions are satisfied at once or not. All parts separated by
an AND operator must be true. Otherwise, the statement containing the AND will return false. Check the following bash
script example for a better understanding of how AND works.

#!/bin/bash

echo -n "Enter Number:"

read num

if [[ ( $num -lt 10 ) && ( $num%2 -eq 0 ) ]]; then

echo "Even Number"

else

echo "Odd Number"

fi
The AND operator is denoted by the && sign.

11. Using the OR Operator

The OR operator is another crucial construct that allows us to implement complex, robust programming logic in our
scripts. Contrary to AND, a statement consisting of the OR operator returns true when either one of its operands is true. It
returns false only when each operand separated by the OR is false.

#!/bin/bash

echo -n "Enter any number:"

read n

if [[ ( $n -eq 15 || $n -eq 45 ) ]]

then

echo "You won"

else

echo "You lost!"

fi
This simple example demonstrates how the OR operator works in Linux shell scripts. It declares the user as the winner
only when he enters the number 15 or 45. The || sign represents the OR operator.

12. Using Elif
The elif statement stands for else if and offers a convenient means for implementing chain logic. Find out how elif works
by assessing the following example.

#!/bin/bash

echo -n "Enter a number: "

read num

if [[ $num -gt 10 ]]

then

echo "Number is greater than 10."

elif [[ $num -eq 10 ]]

then

echo "Number is equal to 10."

else

echo "Number is less than 10."

fi
The above program is self-explanatory, so we won’t dissect it line by line. Change portions of the script like variable
names and values to check how they function together.

13. The Switch Construct

The switch construct is another powerful feature offered by Linux bash scripts. It can be used where nested conditions are
required, but you don’t want to use complex if-else-elif chains. Take a look at the next example.

#!/bin/bash

echo -n "Enter a number: "

read num
case $num in

100)

echo "Hundred!!" ;;

200)

echo "Double Hundred!!" ;;

*)

echo "Neither 100 nor 200" ;;

esac
The conditions are written between the case and esac keywords. The *) is used for matching all inputs other than 100 and
200.

14. Command Line Arguments

Getting arguments directly from the command shell can be beneficial in a number of cases. The below example
demonstrates how to do this in bash.

#!/bin/bash

echo "Total arguments : $#"

echo "First Argument = $1"

echo "Second Argument = $2"

Run this script with two additional parameters after its name. I’ve named it test.sh and the calling procedure is outlined
below.

$ ./test.sh Hey Howdy

So, $1 is used for accessing the first argument, $2 for the second, and so on. The $# is used for getting the total number of
arguments.

15. Getting Arguments with Names

The below example shows how to get command-line arguments with their names.

#!/bin/bash

for arg in "$@"

do

index=$(echo $arg | cut -f1 -d=)

val=$(echo $arg | cut -f2 -d=)

case $index in

X) x=$val;;

Y) y=$val;;

*)

esac

done

((result=x+y))

echo "X+Y=$result"
Name this script test.sh and call it as shown below.

$ ./test.sh X=44 Y=100

It should return X+Y=144. The arguments here are stored inside ‘$@‘ and the script fetches them using the Linux cut
command.

16. Concatenating Strings
String processing is of extreme importance to a wide range of modern bash scripts. Thankfully, it is much more
comfortable in bash and allows for a far more precise, concise way to implement this. See the below example for a quick
glance into bash string concatenation.

#!/bin/bash

string1="Ubuntu"

string2="Pit"

string=$string1$string2

echo "$string is a great resource for Linux beginners."

The following program outputs the string “UbuntuPit is a great resource for Linux beginners.” to the screen.

17. Slicing Strings
Contrary to many programming languages, bash doesn’t provide any in-built function for cutting portions of a string. The
below example demonstrates how this can be done using parameter expansion.

#!/bin/bash

Str="Learn Bash Commands from UbuntuPit"

subStr=${Str:0:20}

echo $subStr
This script should print out “Learn Bash Commands” as its output. The parameter expansion takes the form $
{VAR_NAME:S:L}. Here, S denotes starting position and L indicates the length.

18. Extracting Substrings Using Cut

The Linux cut command can be used from inside your scripts to ‘cut’ a portion of a string, aka the substring. The next
example shows how this can be done.

#!/bin/bash

Str="Learn Bash Commands from UbuntuPit"

#subStr=${Str:0:20}

subStr=$(echo $Str| cut -d ' ' -f 1-3)

echo $subStr
Check out this guide to understand how Linux Cut command works.
19. Adding Two Values
It’s quite easy to perform arithmetic operations inside Linux shell scripts. The below example demonstrates how to receive
two numbers as input from the user and add them.

#!/bin/bash

echo -n "Enter first number:"

read x

echo -n "Enter second number:"

read y

(( sum=x+y ))

echo "The result of addition=$sum"

As you can see, adding numbers in bash is reasonably straightforward.

20. Adding Multiple Values

You can use loops to get multiple user input and add them inside your script. The following examples show this in action.

#!/bin/bash

sum=0

for (( counter=1; counter<5; counter++ ))

do

echo -n "Enter Your Number:"

read n

(( sum+=n ))

#echo -n "$counter "

done

printf "\n"

echo "Result is: $sum"

However, omitting the (( )) will result in string concatenation rather than addition. So, check for things like this in your
program.

21. Functions in Bash
As with any programming dialect, functions play an essential role in Linux shell scripts. They allow admins to create
custom code blocks for frequent usage. The below demonstration will outline how functions work in Linux bash scripts.

#!/bin/bash
function Add()

echo -n "Enter a Number: "

read x

echo -n "Enter another Number: "

read y

echo "Adiition is: $(( x+y ))"

Add
Here we’ve added two numbers just like before. But here we’ve done the work using a function called Add. So whenever
you need to add again, you can just call this function instead of writing that section again.

22. Functions with Return Values

One of the most fantastic features of functions is they allow the passing of data from one function to another. It is useful in
a wide variety of scenarios. Check out the next example.

#!/bin/bash

function Greet() {

str="Hello $name, what brings you to UbuntuPit.com?"

echo $str

echo "-> what's your name?"

read name

val=$(Greet)

echo -e "-> $val"

Here, the output contains data received from the Greet() function.
23. Creating Directories from Bash Scripts
The ability to run system commands using shell scripts allows developers to be much more productive. The following
simple example will show you how to create a directory from within a shell script.

#!/bin/bash

echo -n "Enter directory name ->"

read newdir

cmd="mkdir $newdir"

eval $cmd
If you look closely, this script simply calls your standard shell command mkdir and passes it the directory name. This
program should create a directory in your filesystem. You can also pass the command to execute inside backticks(“) as
shown below.

`mkdir $newdir`

24. Create a Directory after Confirming Existence

The above program will not work if your current working directory already contains a folder with the same name. The
below program will check for the existence of any folder named $dir and only create one if it finds none.

#!/bin/bash

echo -n "Enter directory name ->"

read dir

if [ -d "$dir" ]

then

echo "Directory exists"

else

`mkdir $dir`

echo "Directory created"

fi
Write this program using eval to increase your bash scripting skills.

25. Reading Files
Bash scripts allow users to read files very effectively. The below example will showcase how to read a file using shell
scripts. Create a file called editors.txt with the following contents.

1. Vim
2. Emacs

3. ed

4. nano

5. Code
This script will output each of the above 5 lines.

#!/bin/bash

file='editors.txt'

while read line; do

echo $line

done < $file

26. Deleting Files
The following program will demonstrate how to delete a file within Linux shell scripts. The program will first ask the user
to provide the filename as input and will delete it if it exists. The Linux rm command does the deletion here.

#!/bin/bash

echo -n "Enter filename ->"

read name

rm -i $name
Let’s type in editors.txt as the filename and press y when asked for confirmation. It should delete the file.

27. Appending to Files
The below shell script example will show you how to append data to a file on your filesystem using bash scripts. It adds an
additional line to the earlier editors.txt file.

#!/bin/bash

echo "Before appending the file"

cat editors.txt

echo "6. NotePad++" >> editors.txt

echo "After appending the file"

cat editors.txt
You should notice by now that we’re using everyday terminal commands directly from Linux bash scripts.

28. Test File Existence

The next shell script example shows how to check the existence of a file from bash programs.

#!/bin/bash

filename=$1

if [ -f "$filename" ]; then

echo "File exists"

else

echo "File does not exist"

fi
We are passing the filename as the argument from the command-line directly.

29. Send Mails from Shell Scripts

It is quite straightforward to send emails from bash scripts. The following simple example will demonstrate one way of
doing this from bash applications.

#!/bin/bash

recipient=”[email protected]”

subject=”Greetings”

message=”Welcome to UbuntuPit”

`mail -s $subject $recipient <<< $message`

It will send an email to the recipient containing the given subject and message.

30. Parsing Date and Time

The next bash script example will show you how to handle dates and times using scripts. The Linux date command is used
for getting the necessary information, and our program does the parsing.

#!/bin/bash

year=`date +%Y`

month=`date +%m`

day=`date +%d`

hour=`date +%H`

minute=`date +%M`

second=`date +%S`

echo `date`
echo "Current Date is: $day-$month-$year"

echo "Current Time is: $hour:$minute:$second"

Run this program to see how it works. Also, try running the date command from your terminal.
31. The Sleep Command
The sleep command allows your shell script to pause between instructions. It is useful in a number of scenarios such as
performing system-level jobs. The next example shows the sleep command in action from within a shell script.

#!/bin/bash

echo "How long to wait?"

read time

sleep $time

echo "Waited for $time seconds!"

This program pauses the last instruction’s execution until $time seconds, which is provided by the user in this case.

32. The Wait Command

The wait command is used for pausing system processes from Linux bash scripts. Check out the following example for a
detailed understanding of how this works in bash.

#!/bin/bash

echo "Testing wait command"

sleep 5 &

pid=$!

kill $pid

wait $pid

echo $pid was terminated.

Run this program yourself to check out how it works.

33. Displaying the Last Updated File

Sometimes you might need to find the last updated file for certain operations. The following simple program shows us
how to do this in bash using the awk command. It will list either the last updated or created file in your current working
directory.

#!/bin/bash

ls -lrt | grep ^- | awk 'END{print $NF}'

For the sake of simplicity, we’ll avoid describing how awk functions in this example. You can simply copy this code for
getting the task done.

34. Adding Batch Extensions

The below example will apply a custom extension to all of the files inside a directory. Create a new directory and put some
files in there for demonstration purposes. My folder has a total of five files, each named test followed by (0-4). I’ve
programmed this script to add (.UP) at the end of the files. You can add any extension you want.
#!/bin/bash

dir=$1

for file in `ls $1/*`

do

mv $file $file.UP

done
Firstly, do not try this script from any regular directory; instead, run this from a test directory. Plus, you need to provide
the directory name of your files as a command-line argument. Use period(.) for the current working directory.

35. Print Number of Files or Directories

The below Linux bash script finds the number of files or folders present inside a given directory. It utilizes the Linux find
command to do this. You need to pass the directory name where you want to search for files from the command-line.

#!/bin/bash

if [ -d "$@" ]; then

echo "Files found: $(find "$@" -type f | wc -l)"

echo "Folders found: $(find "$@" -type d | wc -l)"

else

echo "[ERROR] Please retry with another folder."

exit 1

fi
The program will ask the user to try again if the specified directory isn’t available or have permission issues.

36. Cleaning Log Files

The next simple example demonstrates a handy way we can use shell scripts in real life. This program will simply delete
all log files present inside your /var/log directory. You can change the variable that holds this directory for cleaning up
other logs.

#!/bin/bash

LOG_DIR=/var/log

cd $LOG_DIR

cat /dev/null > messages

cat /dev/null > wtmp

echo "Logs cleaned up."

Remember to run this Linux shell script as root.

37. Backup Script Using Bash

Shell scripts provide a robust way to back up your files and directories. The following example will backup each file or
directory that have been modified within the last 24 hour. This program utilizes the find command to do this.

#!/bin/bash

BACKUPFILE=backup-$(date +%m-%d-%Y)

archive=${1:-$BACKUPFILE}

find . -mtime -1 -type f -print0 | xargs -0 tar rvf "$archive.tar"

echo "Directory $PWD backed up in archive file \"$archive.tar.gz\"."

exit 0
It will print the names of the files and directories after the backup process is successful.

38. Check Whether You’re Root

The below example demonstrates a quick way to find out whether a user is root or not from Linux bash scripts.

#!/bin/bash

ROOT_UID=0

if [ "$UID" -eq "$ROOT_UID" ]

then

echo "You are root."

else

echo "You are not root"

fi

exit 0
The output of this script depends on the user running it. It will match the root user based on the $UID.
39. Removing Duplicate Lines from Files
File processing takes considerable time and hampers the productivity of admins in many ways. Searching for duplicates in
your files can become a daunting task. Luckily, you can do this with a short shell script.

#! /bin/sh

echo -n "Enter Filename-> "

read filename

if [ -f "$filename" ]; then

sort $filename | uniq | tee sorted.txt

else

echo "No $filename in $pwd...try again"

fi

exit 0
The above script goes line by line through your file and removes any duplicative line. It then places the new content into a
new file and keeps the original file intact.
40. System Maintenance
I often use a little Linux shell script to upgrade my system instead of doing it manually. The below simple shell script will
show you how to do this.

#!/bin/bash

echo -e "\n$(date "+%d-%m-%Y --- %T") --- Starting work\n"

apt-get update

apt-get -y upgrade

apt-get -y autoremove

apt-get autoclean

echo -e "\n$(date "+%T") \t Script Terminated"

The script also takes care of old packages that are no longer needed. You need to run this script using sudo else it will not
work properly.

Ending Thoughts

Linux shell scripts can be as diverse as you can imagine. There’s literally no limit when it comes to determining what it
can do or can’t. If you’re a new Linux enthusiast, we highly recommend you to master these fundamental bash script
examples. You should tweak them to understand how they work more clearly. We’ve tried our best to provide you with all
the essential insights needed for modern Linux bash scripts. We’ve not touched on some technical matters due to the sake
of simplicity. However, this guide should prove to be a great starting point for many of you.