Bash Scripting

Description

To create a bash script, you start by creating a text file.

Syntax

nano our_script.sh	Create text file with extension .sh meaning bash shell
Open your file and start writing your bash script
#!/bin/bash	Init bash interpreter and setup path. Must be the first line with no spaces.
Anything you run after this command will be interpreted as a normal shell command
You could also use other interpreters like python by typing !#/usr/bin/python3
bash our_script.sh	This will execute your bash script 'our_script.sh'
Bash Script Example to backup all files
nano backup.sh	Create text file with extension .sh
Open your file and start writing your bash script
#!/bin/bash	Init bash interpreter and setup path. Must be the first line with no spaces.
tar -czf backup.tar.gz ~/{Documents,Downloads,Desktop,Pictures,Videos} 2>/dev/null	GZip the specified folders into a new archive file called backup.tar.gz Redirect the standard error to dev/null that will basically get rid of it
Better way of running your bash scripts
Go to your home directory
mkdir bin	Make a directory called bin all in lowercase
mv ~/Desktop/backup.sh ~/bin/	Move all your bash scripts into the bin folder
Go to your bin directory
chmod +x backup.sh	Give executable permissions to bash script backup.sh
You have to edit the shell search path to include the bin folder
nano .bashrc	Open the .bashrc file for editing
Scroll down in the file and add this line
PATH="$PATH:$HOME/bin"	The bin folder will be added to our path
You have to restart your session for this change to take effect
echo $PATH	When we echo the path, we will see the bin folder added to the list of folders
Running the bash script from anywhere now will work