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    Linux Systems Administration Shell Scripting Basics Mike Jager Network Startup Resource Center Mike - Jager@synack - Co.nz

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    Ricky Lynson
    This document provides an introduction to shell scripting basics in Linux systems administration. It covers why shell scripting is useful, especially for scheduled tasks and repetitive sequences. It also discusses when not to use shell scripting, such as for resource-intensive or proprietary tasks. The document then demonstrates shell scripting concepts like variables, conditionals, loops, and includes sample scripts. It also briefly introduces writing "Hello World" programs in C for comparison to shell scripts.

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    Linux Systems Administration Shell Scripting Basics Mike Jager Network Startup Resource Center Mike - Jager@synack - Co.nz

    Uploaded by

    Ricky Lynson
    33 views15 pages
    This document provides an introduction to shell scripting basics in Linux systems administration. It covers why shell scripting is useful, especially for scheduled tasks and repetitive sequences. It also discusses when not to use shell scripting, such as for resource-intensive or proprietary tasks. The document then demonstrates shell scripting concepts like variables, conditionals, loops, and includes sample scripts. It also briefly introduces writing "Hello World" programs in C for comparison to shell scripts.

    Original Description:

    Linux Scripting

    Original Title

    2.3.2.scripting

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    This document provides an introduction to shell scripting basics in Linux systems administration. It covers why shell scripting is useful, especially for scheduled tasks and repetitive sequences. It also discusses when not to use shell scripting, such as for resource-intensive or proprietary tasks. The document then demonstrates shell scripting concepts like variables, conditionals, loops, and includes sample scripts. It also briefly introduces writing "Hello World" programs in C for comparison to shell scripts.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    33 views15 pages

    Linux Systems Administration Shell Scripting Basics Mike Jager Network Startup Resource Center Mike - Jager@synack - Co.nz

    Uploaded by

    Ricky Lynson
    This document provides an introduction to shell scripting basics in Linux systems administration. It covers why shell scripting is useful, especially for scheduled tasks and repetitive sequences. It also discusses when not to use shell scripting, such as for resource-intensive or proprietary tasks. The document then demonstrates shell scripting concepts like variables, conditionals, loops, and includes sample scripts. It also briefly introduces writing "Hello World" programs in C for comparison to shell scripts.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as pdf or txt
    of 15

    Linux Systems Administration

    Shell Scripting Basics


    Mike Jager
    Network Startup Resource Center
    [email protected]

    These materials are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license
    (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

    Why Shell Scripting?


    Scheduled Tasks
    Repetitive sequences
    Boot scripts

    When Not To Use Shell Scripting

    Resource-intensive tasks, especially where spee


    is a factor
    Complex applications, where structured
    programming is a necessity
    Need direct access to system hardware
    Proprietary, closed-source applications

    Sample Repetitive Tasks

    Cleanup
    Run as root, of course
    .
    Do not run these: demo only!
    #
    #
    #
    #

    cd /var/log
    cat /dev/null > messages
    cat /dev/null > wtmp
    echo "Logs cleaned up.

    You can put these commands in a file


    and runbash filename

    Hash Bang
    #! and the shell (first line only)
    chmod a+x (remember the permissions)
    Example: put the following text in hello.sh

    #!/bin/bash
    echo Hello World

    $ chmod a+x hello.sh


    $ ./hello.sh (remember $PATH)

    Variables

    Variable is acontainer of data. Some variables


    already exist in your environment like $PATH
    and $PROMPT

    Shell substitutes any token that starts with $ with


    the contents of the variable of that name

    Variable can be created using VAR=something


    some shells require the keyword
    set to make it
    persist, others need export

    Sample Special Variables


    $ echo $PATH

    shell searches PATH for programs if you do not type them with an absolute path
    $ echo pwd
    $ echo $( pwd )

    shell runs command in between


    $( and ) and prints to the command line
    $ echo $?

    When a process ends, it can leave an integer


    exit code. If the exit code is zero then
    usually it exited successfully. Non zero usually indicates an error.

    Sample Repetitive Tasks


    #!/bin/bash # Proper header for a Bash script.
    # Cleanup, version 2
    # Run as root, of course.
    # Insert code here to print error message and exit if not root.
    LOG_DIR=/var/log

    # Variables are better than hard-coded values.

    cd $LOG_DIR
    cat /dev/null > messages
    cat /dev/null > wtmp
    echo "Logs cleaned up.
    exit # The right and proper method of "exiting" from a script.

    Conditionals
    if expressionthen statement
    if expressionthen statement1else statement2.
    if expression1then statement1else ifexpression2
    then statement2else statement3

    Bash Conditional Syntax


    #!/bin/bash
    if [ "foo" = "foo" ]; then
    echo expression evaluated as true
    fi
    #!/bin/bash
    if [ "foo" = "foo" ]; then
    echo expression evaluated as true
    else
    echo expression evaluated as false
    fi

    Loops

    for loop lets you iterate over a series of 'words'


    within a string.

    while executes a piece of code if the control


    expression is true, and only stops when it is fals

    until loop is almost equal to the while loop, exce


    that the code is executed while the control
    expression evaluates to false.

    Sample Syntax
    #!/bin/bash
    for i in $( ls ); do
    echo item: $i
    done
    #!/bin/bash
    COUNTER=0
    while [ $COUNTER -lt 10 ]; do
    echo The counter is $COUNTER
    let COUNTER=COUNTER+1
    done
    #!/bin/bash
    COUNTER=20
    until [ $COUNTER -lt 10 ]; do
    echo COUNTER $COUNTER
    let COUNTER-=1
    done

    Practice
    Write a shell script to print the disk usage every 5
    seconds.

    Hint: sleep N is a command which will basically


    put the prompt/program to sleep for N seconds
    Hint2: in any conditional, you can say
    true or
    false to force it to always evaluate like that.

    Extras
    Programming (say in C) builds on similar
    concepts.
    Source text is COMPILED into binary
    machine code. Why?

    Hello World, c style


    Edit hello.c and put the following text
    #include <stdio.h>
    int main(){
    printf(Hello World\n);
    return 0;
    }

    Type gcc -o hello hello.c


    Type ./hello ; echo $?
    Change the return 0 to return 42
    Compile it again,
    Run ./hello; echo $?

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