Shell Script Examples ?

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The sha-bang ( #!) at the head of a script tells your system that this file is a set of commands to be fed to the command interpreter indicated.

#!/bin/sh
#!/bin/bash
#!/usr/bin/perl
#!/usr/bin/tcl
#!/bin/sed -f
#!/bin/awk -f

Note again that #!/bin/sh invokes the default shell interpreter,

Example 1. cleanup: A script to clean up log files in /var/log

# Cleanup # Run as root, of course. cd /var/log cat /dev/null > messages cat /dev/null > wtmp echo "Log files cleaned up."

2. cleanup: An improved clean-up script

#!/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.
      #  A bare "exit" (no parameter) returns the exit status
      #+ of the preceding command. 

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3. Backup of all files changed in last day

#!/bin/bash

#  Backs up all files in current directory modified within last 24 hours
#+ in a "tarball" (tarred and gzipped file).

BACKUPFILE=backup-$(date +%m-%d-%Y)
#                 Embeds date in backup filename.
#                 Thanks, Joshua Tschida, for the idea.

archive=${1:-$BACKUPFILE}
#  If no backup-archive filename specified on command-line,
#+ it will default to "backup-MM-DD-YYYY.tar.gz."

tar cvf - `find . -mtime -1 -type f -print` > $archive.tar
gzip $archive.tar
echo "Directory $PWD backed up in archive file \"$archive.tar.gz\"."


#  Stephane Chazelas points out that the above code will fail
#+ if there are too many files found
#+ or if any filenames contain blank characters.

# He suggests the following alternatives:
# -------------------------------------------------------------------
#   find . -mtime -1 -type f -print0 | xargs -0 tar rvf "$archive.tar"
#      using the GNU version of "find".


#   find . -mtime -1 -type f -exec tar rvf "$archive.tar" '{}' \;
#         portable to other UNIX flavors, but much slower.
# -------------------------------------------------------------------

exit 0

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4. exit / exit status

#!/bin/bash

echo hello
echo $?    #Exitstatus 0 command executed successfully

lskdf      # Unrecognized command.
echo $?    # Non-zero exit status command failed to execute.

echo

exit 113   # Will return 113 to shell.
           # To verify this, type "echo $?" after script terminates.

#  By convention, an 'exit 0' indicates success,
#+ while a non-zero exit value means an error or anomalous condition.

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5. Am I root?

#!/bin/bash
# am-i-root.sh:   Am I root or not?

ROOT_UID=0   # Root has $UID 0.

if [ "$UID" -eq "$ROOT_UID" ]  # Will the real "root" please stand up?
then
  echo "You are root."
else
  echo "You are just an ordinary user (but mom loves you just the same)."
fi

exit 0


# ============================================================= #
# Code below will not execute, because the script already exited.

# An alternate method of getting to the root of matters:

ROOTUSER_NAME=root

username=`id -nu`              # Or...   username=`whoami`
if [ "$username" = "$ROOTUSER_NAME" ]
then
  echo "Rooty, toot, toot. You are root."
else
  echo "You are just a regular fella."
fi

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6. Using tail to monitor the system log

#!/bin/bash

filename=sys.log

cat /dev/null > $filename; echo "Creating / cleaning out file."
#  Creates the file if it does not already exist,
#+ and truncates it to zero length if it does.
#  : > filename   and   > filename also work.

tail /var/log/messages > $filename  
# /var/log/messages must have world read permission for this to work.

echo "$filename contains tail end of system log."

exit 0

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7. Setting a new password

#!/bin/bash
#  setnew-password.sh: For demonstration purposes only.
#                      Not a good idea to actually run this script.
#  This script must be run as root.

ROOT_UID=0         # Root has $UID 0.
E_WRONG_USER=65    # Not root?

E_NOSUCHUSER=70
SUCCESS=0


if [ "$UID" -ne "$ROOT_UID" ]
then
  echo; echo "Only root can run this script."; echo
  exit $E_WRONG_USER
else
  echo
  echo "You should know better than to run this script, root."
  echo "Even root users get the blues... "
  echo
fi  


username=bozo
NEWPASSWORD=security_violation

# Check if bozo lives here.
grep -q "$username" /etc/passwd
if [ $? -ne $SUCCESS ]
then
  echo "User $username does not exist."
  echo "No password changed."
  exit $E_NOSUCHUSER
fi  

echo "$NEWPASSWORD" | passwd --stdin "$username"
#  The '--stdin' option to 'passwd' permits
#+ getting a new password from stdin (or a pipe).

echo; echo "User $username's password changed!"

# Using the 'passwd' command in a script is dangerous.

exit 0
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