#!/bin/bash
# First line of the script is shebang which tells the system how to execute
# the script: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebang_(Unix)
# As you already figured, comments start with #. Shebang is also a comment.
# Simple hello world example:
echo Hello world!
# Each command starts on a new line, or after semicolon:
echo 'This is the first line'; echo 'This is the second line'
# Declaring a variable looks like this:
Variable="Some string"
# But not like this:
Variable = "Some string"
# Bash will decide that Variable is a command it must execute and give an error
# because it can't be found.
# Or like this:
Variable= 'Some string'
# Bash will decide that 'Some string' is a command it must execute and give an
# error because it can't be found. (In this case the 'Variable=' part is seen
# as a variable assignment valid only for the scope of the 'Some string'
# command.)
# Using the variable:
echo $Variable
echo "$Variable"
echo '$Variable'
# When you use the variable itself — assign it, export it, or else — you write
# its name without $. If you want to use the variable's value, you should use $.
# Note that ' (single quote) won't expand the variables!
# Parameter expansion ${ }:
echo ${Variable}
# This is a simple usage of parameter expansion
# Parameter Expansion gets a value from a variable. It "expands" or prints the value
# During the expansion time the value or parameter are able to be modified
# Below are other modifications that add onto this expansion
# String substitution in variables
echo ${Variable/Some/A}
# This will substitute the first occurrence of "Some" with "A"
# Substring from a variable
Length=7
echo ${Variable:0:Length}
# This will return only the first 7 characters of the value
# Default value for variable
echo ${Foo:-"DefaultValueIfFooIsMissingOrEmpty"}
# This works for null (Foo=) and empty string (Foo=""); zero (Foo=0) returns 0.
# Note that it only returns default value and doesn't change variable value.
# Brace Expansion { }
# Used to generate arbitrary strings
echo {1..10}
echo {a..z}
# This will output the range from the start value to the end value
# Builtin variables:
# There are some useful builtin variables, like
echo "Last program's return value: $?"
echo "Script's PID: $$"
echo "Number of arguments passed to script: $#"
echo "All arguments passed to script: $@"
echo "Script's arguments separated into different variables: $1 $2..."
# Now that we know how to echo and use variables,
# let's learn some of the other basics of bash!
# Our current directory is available through the command `pwd`.
# `pwd` stands for "print working directory".
# We can also use the builtin variable `$PWD`.
# Observe that the following are equivalent:
echo "I'm in $(pwd)" # execs `pwd` and interpolates output
echo "I'm in $PWD" # interpolates the variable
# If you get too much output in your terminal, or from a script, the command
# `clear` clears your screen
clear
# Ctrl-L also works for clearing output
# Reading a value from input:
echo "What's your name?"
read Name # Note that we didn't need to declare a new variable
echo Hello, $Name!
# We have the usual if structure:
# use 'man test' for more info about conditionals
if [ $Name != $USER ]
then
echo "Your name isn't your username"
else
echo "Your name is your username"
fi
# NOTE: if $Name is empty, bash sees the above condition as:
if [ != $USER ]
# which is invalid syntax
# so the "safe" way to use potentially empty variables in bash is:
if [ "$Name" != $USER ] ...
# which, when $Name is empty, is seen by bash as:
if [ "" != $USER ] ...
# which works as expected
# There is also conditional execution
echo "Always executed" || echo "Only executed if first command fails"
echo "Always executed" && echo "Only executed if first command does NOT fail"
# To use && and || with if statements, you need multiple pairs of square brackets:
if [ "$Name" == "Steve" ] && [ "$Age" -eq 15 ]
then
echo "This will run if $Name is Steve AND $Age is 15."
fi
if [ "$Name" == "Daniya" ] || [ "$Name" == "Zach" ]
then
echo "This will run if $Name is Daniya OR Zach."
fi
# Expressions are denoted with the following format:
echo $(( 10 + 5 ))
# Unlike other programming languages, bash is a shell so it works in the context
# of a current directory. You can list files and directories in the current
# directory with the ls command:
ls
# These commands have options that control their execution:
ls -l # Lists every file and directory on a separate line
ls -t # Sorts the directory contents by last-modified date (descending)
ls -R # Recursively `ls` this directory and all of its subdirectories
# Results of the previous command can be passed to the next command as input.
# grep command filters the input with provided patterns. That's how we can list
# .txt files in the current directory:
ls -l | grep "\.txt"
# Use `cat` to print files to stdout:
cat file.txt
# We can also read the file using `cat`:
Contents=$(cat file.txt)
echo "START OF FILE\n$Contents\nEND OF FILE"
# Use `cp` to copy files or directories from one place to another.
# `cp` creates NEW versions of the sources,
# so editing the copy won't affect the original (and vice versa).
# Note that it will overwrite the destination if it already exists.
cp srcFile.txt clone.txt
cp -r srcDirectory/ dst/ # recursively copy
# Look into `scp` or `sftp` if you plan on exchanging files between computers.
# `scp` behaves very similarly to `cp`.
# `sftp` is more interactive.
# Use `mv` to move files or directories from one place to another.
# `mv` is similar to `cp`, but it deletes the source.
# `mv` is also useful for renaming files!
mv s0urc3.txt dst.txt # sorry, l33t hackers...
# Since bash works in the context of a current directory, you might want to
# run your command in some other directory. We have cd for changing location:
cd ~ # change to home directory
cd .. # go up one directory
# (^^say, from /home/username/Downloads to /home/username)
cd /home/username/Documents # change to specified directory
cd ~/Documents/.. # still in home directory..isn't it??
# Use subshells to work across directories
(echo "First, I'm here: $PWD") && (cd someDir; echo "Then, I'm here: $PWD")
pwd # still in first directory
# Use `mkdir` to create new directories.
mkdir myNewDir
# The `-p` flag causes new intermediate directories to be created as necessary.
mkdir -p myNewDir/with/intermediate/directories
# You can redirect command input and output (stdin, stdout, and stderr).
# Read from stdin until ^EOF$ and overwrite hello.py with the lines
# between "EOF":
cat > hello.py << EOF
#!/usr/bin/env python
from __future__ import print_function
import sys
print("#stdout", file=sys.stdout)
print("#stderr", file=sys.stderr)
for line in sys.stdin:
print(line, file=sys.stdout)
EOF
# Run hello.py with various stdin, stdout, and stderr redirections:
python hello.py < "input.in"
python hello.py > "output.out"
python hello.py 2> "error.err"
python hello.py > "output-and-error.log" 2>&1
python hello.py > /dev/null 2>&1
# The output error will overwrite the file if it exists,
# if you want to append instead, use ">>":
python hello.py >> "output.out" 2>> "error.err"
# Overwrite output.out, append to error.err, and count lines:
info bash 'Basic Shell Features' 'Redirections' > output.out 2>> error.err
wc -l output.out error.err
# Run a command and print its file descriptor (e.g. /dev/fd/123)
# see: man fd
echo <(echo "#helloworld")
# Overwrite output.out with "#helloworld":
cat > output.out <(echo "#helloworld")
echo "#helloworld" > output.out
echo "#helloworld" | cat > output.out
echo "#helloworld" | tee output.out >/dev/null
# Cleanup temporary files verbosely (add '-i' for interactive)
# WARNING: `rm` commands cannot be undone
rm -v output.out error.err output-and-error.log
rm -r tempDir/ # recursively delete
# Commands can be substituted within other commands using $( ):
# The following command displays the number of files and directories in the
# current directory.
echo "There are $(ls | wc -l) items here."
# The same can be done using backticks `` but they can't be nested - the preferred way
# is to use $( ).
echo "There are `ls | wc -l` items here."
# Bash uses a case statement that works similarly to switch in Java and C++:
case "$Variable" in
#List patterns for the conditions you want to meet
0) echo "There is a zero.";;
1) echo "There is a one.";;
*) echo "It is not null.";;
esac
# for loops iterate for as many arguments given:
# The contents of $Variable is printed three times.
for Variable in {1..3}
do
echo "$Variable"
done
# Or write it the "traditional for loop" way:
for ((a=1; a <= 3; a++))
do
echo $a
done
# They can also be used to act on files..
# This will run the command 'cat' on file1 and file2
for Variable in file1 file2
do
cat "$Variable"
done
# ..or the output from a command
# This will cat the output from ls.
for Output in $(ls)
do
cat "$Output"
done
# while loop:
while [ true ]
do
echo "loop body here..."
break
done
# You can also define functions
# Definition:
function foo ()
{
echo "Arguments work just like script arguments: $@"
echo "And: $1 $2..."
echo "This is a function"
return 0
}
# or simply
bar ()
{
echo "Another way to declare functions!"
return 0
}
# Calling your function
foo "My name is" $Name
# There are a lot of useful commands you should learn:
# prints last 10 lines of file.txt
tail -n 10 file.txt
# prints first 10 lines of file.txt
head -n 10 file.txt
# sort file.txt's lines
sort file.txt
# report or omit repeated lines, with -d it reports them
uniq -d file.txt
# prints only the first column before the ',' character
cut -d ',' -f 1 file.txt
# replaces every occurrence of 'okay' with 'great' in file.txt, (regex compatible)
sed -i 's/okay/great/g' file.txt
# print to stdout all lines of file.txt which match some regex
# The example prints lines which begin with "foo" and end in "bar"
grep "^foo.*bar$" file.txt
# pass the option "-c" to instead print the number of lines matching the regex
grep -c "^foo.*bar$" file.txt
# Other useful options are:
grep -r "^foo.*bar$" someDir/ # recursively `grep`
grep -n "^foo.*bar$" file.txt # give line numbers
grep -rI "^foo.*bar$" someDir/ # recursively `grep`, but ignore binary files
# perform the same initial search, but filter out the lines containing "baz"
grep "^foo.*bar$" file.txt | grep -v "baz"
# if you literally want to search for the string,
# and not the regex, use fgrep (or grep -F)
fgrep "foobar" file.txt
# trap command allows you to execute a command when a signal is received by your script.
# Here trap command will execute rm if any one of the three listed signals is received.
trap "rm $TEMP_FILE; exit" SIGHUP SIGINT SIGTERM
# `sudo` is used to perform commands as the superuser
NAME1=$(whoami)
NAME2=$(sudo whoami)
echo "Was $NAME1, then became more powerful $NAME2"
# Read Bash shell builtins documentation with the bash 'help' builtin:
help
help help
help for
help return
help source
help .
# Read Bash manpage documentation with man
apropos bash
man 1 bash
man bash
# Read info documentation with info (? for help)
apropos info | grep '^info.*('
man info
info info
info 5 info
# Read bash info documentation:
info bash
info bash 'Bash Features'
info bash 6
info --apropos bash