Advanced Shell Script With Examples [Free Downloads]

Bash Scripting offers the concepts of string, array, and loops for achieving advanced programming goals. In this article, I will explore concepts and tools of the advanced shell script with examples that will elevate your shell scripting skills. I will equip you with the knowledge to tackle complex tasks.

1. Find the Length of a String

You can simply use the ${#STRING} to find the length of a string:

#!/bin/bash
str="My name is Tom!"
len=${#str}
echo "The length of the string is: $len"

Output:

The length of the string is: 15

2. Check if Two Strings are Equal

Check whether two strings are the same or not using the == (Equal) operator inside the if condition:

#!/bin/bash
string1="hello"
string2="world"
if [ "$string1" == "$string2" ]; then
  echo "The strings are equal."
else
  echo "The strings are not equal."
fi

Output:

The strings are not equal.

3. Convert All Uppercase Letters in a String to Lowercase

Here is a bash script for converting all upper case letters in a string to lower case letters that use the tr command with the [:upper:] and [:lower:] classes for conversion:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter a string: " str
echo "Converted String:" $str | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]'

Output:

Enter a string: ABCDefgh
converted string: abcdefgh

4. Remove All Whitespace from a String

For removing white spaces from a string simply use the ${STRING// /}:

#!/bin/bash
str="   Hello    from Linuxsimply !   ! "
str=${str// /}
echo "The resultant string: $str"

Output:

The resultant string: HellofromLinuxsimply!!

5. Reverse a String

To reverse a string use the rev command with echo and Pipe(|):

#!/bin/bash
str="Linuxsimply"
str=$(echo "$str" | rev)
echo "The reversed string: $str"

Output:

The reversed string: ylpmisxuniL

6. Reverse a Sentence

You can reverse a sentence by reversing the order of words with the awk command. For instance:

#!/bin/bash
sentence="Hello from LinuxsimplY!!"
r_sentence=$(echo "$sentence" | awk '{ for(i=NF;i>0;i--) printf("%s ",$i); print "" }')
echo "The reversed sentence is: $r_sentence"

Output:

The reversed sentence is: LinuxsimplY!! from Hello

7. Capitalize the First Letter of a Word

For capitalizing only the first letter of a word, cut out the first letter to convert it and then concatenate it with the rest of the string. See the script below:

#!/bin/bash
str="linuxsimply!!"
cap_str=$(echo "${str:0:1}" | tr '[:lower:]' '[:upper:]')${str:1}
echo "The capitalized word is: $cap_str"

Output:

The capitalized word is: Linuxsimply!!

8. Replace a Word in a Sentence

You can replace the first occurrence of a word in a string with a given word using the $(../../..):

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter a sentence: " str1
read -p "Enter the word to be replaced: " str2
read -p "Enter the new word: " str3
echo "Modified sentence: ${str1/$str2/$str3}"

Output:

Enter a sentence: I love Linux
Enter the word to be replaced: Linux
Enter the new word: Linuxsimply
Modified sentence: I love Linuxsimply

9. Print Numbers from 5 to 1

You can use the “until” loop in bash to print a number sequence. In this case, specify the condition to stop the loop inside “until [ ]”. Such as:

#!/bin/bash
n=5
until [ $n == 0 ]
do
  echo $n
  n=$((n-1))
done

Output:

5
4
3
2
1

10. Print Even Numbers From 1 to 10

To print the even number in a range, check the even number condition inside the for loop before printing the number:

#!/bin/bash
for (( i=1; i<=10; i++ ))
do
  if [ $((i%2)) == 0 ]
  then
    echo $i
  fi
done

Output:

2
4
6
8
10

11. Print the Multiplication Table of a Number

Use the simple echo command inside a “for” loop to display the Multiplication Table of a number:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter a number: " num
for (( i=1; i<=10; i++ ))
do
  echo "$num x $i = $((num*i))"
done

Output:

Enter a number: 12
12 x 1 = 12
12 x 2 = 24
12 x 3 = 36
12 x 4 = 48
12 x 5 = 60
12 x 6 = 72
12 x 7 = 84
12 x 8 = 96
12 x 9 = 108
12 x 10 = 120

12. Calculate the Sum of Digits of a Given Number

For calculating the sum of digits of a given number, extract each digit using “%” operator and store the summation in a fixed variable using the loop. See the script below:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter a number: " num
sum=0
while [ $num -gt 0 ]
do
  dig=$((num%10))
  sum=$((sum+dig))
  num=$((num/10))
done
echo "The sum of digits of the given number: $sum"

Output:

Enter a number: 1567
The sum of digits of the given number: 19

13. Calculate the Factorial of a Number

Calculate the factorial of a number by running multiplications inside a “for” loop:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter a number: " num
temp=1
for (( i=1; i<=$num; i++ ))
do
temp=$((temp*i))
done
echo "The factorial of $num is: $temp"

Output:

Enter a number: 6
The factorial of 6 is: 720

14. Calculate the Sum of the First “n” Numbers

To calculate the sum of the first n numbers run a for loop and addition operation till n. For example:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter a number: " num
sum=0
for (( i=1; i<=$num; i++ ))
do
sum=$((sum + i))
done
echo "Sum of first $num numbers: $sum"

Output:

Enter a number: 100
Sum of first 100 numbers: 5050

15. Find the Smallest and Largest Elements in an Array

To find the smallest and largest element in a given array, first initialize a small and a large number. Then compare the array elements with these numbers inside any loop:

#!/bin/bash
arr=(24 27 84 11 99)
echo "Given array: ${arr[*]}"
s=100000
l=0
for num in "${arr[@]}"
do
  if [ $num -lt $s ]
  then
    s=$num
  fi
  if [ $num -gt $l ]
  then
    l=$num
  fi
done
echo "The smallest element: $s"
echo "The largest: $l"

Output:

Given array: 24 27 84 11 99
The smallest element: 11
The largest: 99

16. Sort an Array of Integers in Ascending Order

You can sort an array of integers by converting it into a list of integers using “tr ‘\n’”. The list of integers is sorted with the “sort -n” command and then converted back into an array. Like the script below:

#!/bin/bash
arr=(24 27 84 11 99)
echo "Given array: ${arr[*]}"
arr=($(echo "${arr[*]}" | tr ' ' '\n' | sort -n | tr '\n' ' '))
echo "Sorted array: ${arr[*]}"

Output:

Given array: 24 27 84 11 99
Sorted array: 11 24 27 84 99

17. Remove an Element from an Array

In bash, you can simply remove an element from an array using the pattern substitution concept. The syntax ${arr[@]/$val} contains all the elements of the original array “arr” except for any occurrences of the value $val. For instance:

#!/bin/bash
arr=(24 27 84 11 99)
echo "Given array: ${arr[*]}"
read -p "Enter an element to remove: " val
arr=("${arr[@]/$val}")
echo "Resultant array: ${arr[*]}"

Output:

Given array: 24 27 84 11 99
Enter an element to remove: 11
Resultant array: 24 27 84  99

18. Inserting an Element into an Array

For inserting an element into an array, split the array in the given index and insert the element:

#!/bin/bash
arr=(24 27 84 11 99)
echo "Given array: ${arr[*]}"
read -p "Enter an element to insert: " new_val
read -p "Enter the index to insert the element: " index
arr=("${arr[@]:0:$index}" "$new_val" "${arr[@]:$index}")
echo "The updated array: ${arr[@]}"

Output:

iven array: 24 27 84 11 99
Enter an element to insert: 100
Enter the index to insert the element: 3
The updated array: 24 27 84 100 11 99

19. Slicing an Array Using Bash Script

Slice an array in Bash by placing the indices to slice inside the ${arr[@]:$index1:$index2} pattern:

#!/bin/bash
arr=(24 27 84 11 99)
echo "Given array: ${arr[*]}"
read -p "Enter 1st index of slice: " index1
read -p "Enter 2nd index of slice: " index2
sliced_arr=("${arr[@]:$index1:$index2}")
echo "The sliced array: ${sliced_arr[@]}"

Output:

Given array: 24 27 84 11 99
Enter 1st index of slice: 1
Enter 2nd index of slice: 3
The sliced array: 27 84 11

20. Calculate the Average of an Array of Numbers

Find the sum of array elements using a “for” loop and divide it by the number of elements i.e. ${#arr[@]}:

#!/bin/bash
echo "Enter an array of numbers (separated by space):"
read -a arr
sum=0
for i in "${arr[@]}"
do
sum=$((sum+i))
done
avg=$((sum/${#arr[@]}))
echo "Average of the array elements: $avg"

Output:

Enter an array of numbers (separated by space):
23 45 11 99 100
Average of the array elements: 55

21. Find the Length of an Array

To find the length of an array simply use the syntax: ${#arr[@]}:

#!/bin/bash
arr=(24 27 84 11 99)
echo "Given array: ${arr[*]}"
len=${#arr[@]}
echo "The length of the array: $len"

Output:

Given array: 24 27 84 11 99
The length of the array: 5

22. Check if a String is a Palindrome

Write the code to check a palindrome inside the function “Palindrome()” and call it by passing the desired string:

#!/bin/bash
Palindrome () {
s=$1
if [ "$(echo $s | rev)" == "$str" ]
then
echo "The string is a Palindrome"
else
echo "The string is not a palindrome"
fi
}
read -p "Enter a string: " str
Palindrome "$str"

Output:

Enter a string: wow
The string is a Palindrome

23. Check if a Number is Prime

Create the “Prime()” function that returns whether the parameter passed is prime or not:

#!/bin/bash
Prime () {
num=$1
if [ $num -lt 2 ]
then
  echo "The number $num is Not Prime"
  return
fi
for (( i=2; i<=$num/2; i++ ))
do
  if [ $((num%i)) -eq 0 ]
  then
    echo "The number $num is Not Prime"
    return
  fi
done
echo "The number $num is Prime"
}
read -p "Enter a number: " num
Prime "$num"

Output:

Enter a number: 2
The number 2 is Prime

24. Convert Fahrenheit to Celsius

Here, the function “Celsius()” runs the necessary formula on the passed temperature value in Fahrenheit to convert it into Celsius:

#!/bin/bash

Celsius () {
  f=$1
  c=$((($f-32)*5/9))
  echo "Temperature in Celsius = $c°C"
}
read -p "Enter temperature in Fahrenheit:" f
Celsius $f

Output:

Enter temperature in Fahrenheit:100
Temperature in Celsius = 37°C

25. Calculate the Area of a Rectangle

Write the formula to calculate the area of a rectangle inside the function “Area()” and call it by passing the height and width:

#!/bin/bash

Area() {
width=$1
height=$2
area=$(($width * $height))
echo “Area of the rectangle is: $area”
}
read -p "Enter height and width of the ractangle:" h w
Area $h $w

Output:

Enter height and width of the ractangle:10 4
“Area of the rectangle is: 40”

26. Calculate the Area of a Circle

Write the formula to calculate the area of a circle inside the function “Area()” and call it by passing the given radius:

#!/bin/bash
Area () {
radius=$1
area=$(echo "scale=2; 3.14 * $radius * $radius" | bc)
echo "Area of a circle with radius $radius is $area."
}
read -p "Enter radius of the circle:" r
Area $r

Output:

Enter radius of the circle:4
Area of a circle with radius 4 is 50.24.

27. Grading System

The function “Grade()” runs the necessary conditions to divide the number ranges into grades and returns the resultant grade:

#!/bin/bash

Grade() {
score=$1
if (( $score >= 80 )); then
  grade="A+"
elif (( $score >= 70 )); then
  grade="A"
elif (( $score >= 60 )); then
  grade="B"
elif (( $score >= 50 )); then
  grade="C"
elif (( $score >= 40 )); then
  grade="D"
else
  grade="F"
fi
echo “The grade for mark $s is $grade”
}
read -p "Enter a score between 1-100:" s
Grade $s

Output:

Enter a score between 1-100:76
“The grade for mark 76 is A”

28. Search For a Pattern inside a File

The script given below will take a filename and a pattern as user input and search it within the file. If the pattern is found then the lines having the pattern will be displayed on the screen along with line numbers. Otherwise, it will print a message saying the pattern did not match. See the script below:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter filename: " filename
read -p "Enter a pattern to search for: " pattern
grep -w -n $pattern $filename
if [ $? -eq 1 ]; then
  echo "Pattern did not match."
fi

Output:

Enter filename: poem.txt
Enter a pattern to search for: daffodils
4:A host, of golden daffodils;
27:And dances with the daffodils.

29. Replace a Pattern in a Fille

The following script will take a file name and a pattern from the user to replace it with a new pattern. Finally, it will display the updated lines on the terminal. If the pattern to replace does not exist, then it will show an error message:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter filename: " filename
read -p "Enter a pattern to replace: " pattern
read -p "Enter new pattern: " new_pattern
grep -q $pattern $filename
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
  sed -i "s/$pattern/$new_pattern/g" $filename
  echo "Updated Lines: "
  grep -w -n $new_pattern $filename
else
  echo "Error! Pattern did not match."
fi

Output:

Enter filename: poem.txt
Enter a pattern to replace: daffodils
Enter new pattern: dandelions
Updated Lines:
4:A host, of golden dandelions;
27:And dances with the dandelions.

30. Take Multiple Filenames and Prints their Contents

The below script is for reading the contents of multiple files. It will take the file names as user input and display their contents on the screen. If any filename does not exist, it will show a separate error message for that file. For example:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter the file names: " files
IFS=' ' read -ra array <<< "$files"
for file in "${array[@]}"
do
if [ -e "$file" ]; then
  echo "Contents of $file:"
  cat "$file"
else
  echo "Error: $file does not exist"
fi
done

Output:

Enter the file names: message.txt passage.txt
Contents of message.txt:
“Merry Christmas! May your happiness be large and your bills be small.”
Contents of passage.txt:
The students told the headmaster that they wanted to celebrate the victory of the National Debate Competition.

31. Copy a File to a New Location

You can copy a file to another location using the bash script below. It will read the filename and destination path from the terminal and copy the file if it exists in the current directory. If the file is not there, the script will return an error message. Such as:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter the file name: " file
read -p "Enter destination path:" dest
if [ -e "$file" ]; then
  cp $file $dest
  file_location=$(readlink -f $dest)
  echo "A copy of $file is now located att: $file_location"
else
  echo "Error: $file does not exist"
fi

Output:

Enter the file name: poem.txt
Enter destination path:/home/susmit/Documents
A copy of poem.txt is now located at: /home/susmit/Documents

32. Create a New File and Write Text Inside

The script given below is for creating a new file and writing text inside the file. You will be able to write into the file from the command line. Upon completion, it will show a message saying the file has been created. Following is the full script:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter the file name: " file
echo "Enter text to write:"
read text
echo "$text" > "$file"
echo "-----------------------------------"
echo "The File $file is created!"

Output:

Enter the file name: text_file1.txt
Enter text to write:
In English, there are three articles: a, an, and the. Articles are used before nouns or noun equivalents and are a type of adjective. The definite article (the) is used before a noun to indicate that the identity of the noun is known to the reader.
-----------------------------------
The File text_file1.txt is created!

33. Compare the Contents of 2 Given Files

The following bash script takes two file names as user input and compares their contents. If one or either of the files does not exist in the current directory it shows an error to the user. Otherwise, prints the result if the files are identical or not. Such as:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter the 1st file name: " file1
read -p "Enter the 2nd file name: " file2
if [ ! -f $file1 ] || [ ! -f $file2 ]
then
  echo "Error! One of the files does not exists."
  exit 1
fi
if cmp -s "$file1" "$file2"
then
  echo "The Files $file1 and $file2 are identical."
else
  echo "The Files $file1 and $file2 are different."
fi

Output:

Enter the 1st file name: article1.txt
Enter the 2nd file name: text_file1.txt
The Files article1.txt and text_file1.txt are identical.

34. Delete a Given File if It Exists

This is a script for checking a file’s existence before running deleting the file. The script will take the file’s name from the user and delete it if it is found in the current directory. Otherwise, it will display an error. See the code below:

#!/bin/bash

read -p "Enter the file name for deletion: " file
if [ -f $file ]
then
  rm $file
  echo "The file $file deleted successfully!"
else
  echo "Error! The file $file does not exist."
fi

Output:

Enter the file name for deletion: article1.txt
The file article1.txt deleted successfully!

35. Renames a File from Script

You can rename an existing file using the script below. All you have to do is enter the old filename and the new filename. The script will rename the file if it is available in the directory. If the file is not in the path, then it will display an error message:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter the file name: " file
read -p "Enter new file name: " new_file
if [ -f $file ]
then
  mv "$file" "$new_file"
  echo "The file $file has been renamed as $new_file!"
else
  echo "Error! The file $file does not exist."
fi

Output:

Enter the file name: poem.txt
Enter new file name: daffodils.txt
The file poem.txt has been renamed as daffodils.txt!

36. Check the Permissions of a file

The script below checks permissions for the given filename and lists the active permissions of the current user. If there does not exist any file of the input file name, then it displays an error message. For instance:

#!/bin/bash

read -p "Enter the file name: " file
if [ -f $file ]; then
  if [ -r "$file" ]; then
    echo "Readable"
  fi
  if [ -w "$file" ]; then
    echo "Writable"
  fi
  if [ -x "$file" ]; then
    echo "Executable"
  fi
  else
  echo "Error! The file $file does not exist."
fi

Output:

Enter the file name: daffodils.txt
Readable
Writable

37. Set the Permissions of a Directory for the Owner

The following script gives the current user read, write, and execute permissions of a directory. The directory name is taken as user input and if the directory does not exist, it displays an error message:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter the directory name: " dir
if [ -d $dir ]; then
  chmod u+rwx $dir
  echo "Directory permissions have been updated!"
else
  echo "Error! The directory $dir does not exist."
fi

Output:

Enter the directory name: Documents
Directory permissions have been updated!

38. Change the File Owner

The script here changes the owner of a file if the file exists in the directory. Since changing ownership requires administrator permissions, you will need to give the sudo password while running the script. Upon completion of the task, the script will show a success message:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter the file name: " file
read -p "Enter file owner name: " owner
if [ -f $file ]; then
  sudo chown $owner $file
  echo "Changed file owner to $owner!"
else
  echo "Error! The file $file does not exist."
fi

Output:

Enter the file name: daffodils.txt
Enter file owner name: tom
[sudo] password for susmit:
Changed file owner to tom!

39. File Permissions: Change the Overall Permissions of a File

You can change the permissions of an existing file using the script below. All you have to do is enter the filename, the permissions in absolute mode, and the sudo password to activate administrative privileges. The script will update the file permissions if it is available in the directory. If the file is not in the path, then it will display an error message:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter the file name: " file
read -p "Enter new permissions in Absolute Mode: " permissions
if [ -f $file ]; then
  sudo chmod $permissions $file
  echo "Permissions for the file $file has been changed!"
else
  echo "Error! The file $file does not exist."
fi

Output:

Enter the file name: daffodils.txt
Enter new permissions in Absolute Mode: 777
[sudo] password for susmit:
Permissions for the file daffodils.txt has been changed!

40. Check a Remote Host for its Availability

The following script checks the network status of a remote host. You will need to enter the host IP address as input and it will return a message saying if the host is up or down:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter remote host IP address:" ip
ping -c 1 $ip
if [ $? -eq 0 ]
then
  echo "-----------------------"
  echo "Host is up!"
  echo "-----------------------"
else
  echo "-----------------------"
  echo "Host is down!"
  echo "-----------------------"
fi

Output:

Enter remote host IP address:192.168.0.6
PING 192.168.0.6 (192.168.0.6) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.0.6: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=4.10 ms
--- 192.168.0.6 ping statistics ---
1 packets transmitted, 1 received, 0% packet loss, time 0ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 4.095/4.095/4.095/0.000 ms
-----------------------
Host is up!
-----------------------

41. Test if a Remote Port is Open

The script below checks the network connection in a system port. It takes a host address and port number as the input. If the connection to the host through the port number is successful then it verifies that the port is open. Otherwise, it returns a message saying the port is closed:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter host address:" HOST
read -p "Enter port number:" PORT
nc -z -v -w5 "$HOST" "$PORT"
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
  echo "----------------------------------------------"
  echo "Port $PORT on $HOST is open"
  echo "----------------------------------------------"
else
  echo "----------------------------------------------"
  echo "Port $PORT on $HOST is closed"
  echo "----------------------------------------------"
fi

Output:

Enter host address:192.168.0.107
Enter port number:80
Connection to 192.168.0.107 80 port [tcp/http-alt] succeeded!
----------------------------------------------
Port 80 on 192.168.0.107 is open
----------------------------------------------

42. Checking Network Connectivity

The below script checks network connectivity to a remote host via the internet. If there is a successful connection then it returns the status “Internet connection is up”. Otherwise, returns “Internet connection is down”:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter a host address:" HOST
if ping -q -c 1 -W 1 $HOST >/dev/null; then
  echo "----------------------------------------------"
  echo "Internet connection is up"
  echo "----------------------------------------------"
else
  echo "----------------------------------------------"
  echo "Internet connection is down"
  echo "----------------------------------------------"
fi

Output:

Enter a host address:192.168.0.107
----------------------------------------------
Internet connection is up
----------------------------------------------

43. Automating Network Configuration

The following bash script configures a network IP address and subnet mask. Upon configuration, it sets up the gateway and DNS server at the given addresses. All four IP addresses are passed as user input. It will return an error message if it is unsuccessful at running any of the commands:

#!/bin/bash
echo "Enter network configuration variables:"
read -p "Enter an IP address: " ip_addr
read -p "Enter a subnet mask: " subnet_mask
read -p "Enter a Gateway address: " gateway
read -p "Enter a DNS address: " dns
# Configure network interface
sudo ifconfig eth0 $ip_addr netmask $subnet_mask up
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
# Set default gateway
  sudo route add default gw $gateway
  if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
  # Set DNS servers
  sudo echo "nameserver $dns" > /etc/resolv.conf
    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
      echo "----------------------------------------------"
      echo "Network configuration completed"
      echo "----------------------------------------------"
    else
      echo "----------------------------------------------"
      echo "Error while setting the DNS server."
    fi
  else
    echo "----------------------------------------------"
    echo "Error while setting the default gateway."
  fi
  else
    echo "----------------------------------------------"
    echo "Network Configuration Failed."
fi

Syntax to run the script: sudo bash bin/adv_example16.sh

Requirement: ifconfig must be installed.

Output:

Enter network configuration variables:
Enter an IP address: 192.168.0.108
Enter a subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Enter a Gateway address: 192.168.0.1
Enter a DNS address: 8.8.8.8
----------------------------------------------
Network configuration completed
----------------------------------------------

44. Check if a Process is Running

The given script can check if a process is currently running on your system or not. You will need to enter your desired process name and the script will display the process’s current status:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter process name: " process
if pgrep $process > /dev/null
then
  echo "Process is running."
else
  echo "Process is not running."
fi

Output:

Enter process name: bash
Process is running.

45. Start a Process if It’s Not Already Running

You can use the script given below to start a process. The process name is passed as user input to the script. If the process is already running then it will return a message saying “The Process is already running”. Otherwise, It will start the desired process.

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter process name: " process
if ! pgrep $process > /dev/null
then
  /path/to/process_name &
  echo "The Process $process has now started."
else
  echo "The Process is already running."
fi

Output:

Enter process name: bash
The Process is already running.

46. Stop a Process

The script below can stop a process if it runs in the system. The user has to enter a process name as the script input. If the process is currently running then the script will terminate that process. Otherwise, it says, “The process is not running”:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter process name: " process
if pgrep $process > /dev/null
then
  pkill $process
  echo "The Process $process has stopped."
else
  echo "The Process $process is not running."
fi

Output:

Enter process name: nslookup
The Process nslookup has stopped.

47. Restart a Process

The following script aims to take a process name as input and then restart it. If the process is already running then the script kills the process and starts over. After the first kill command, it waits for 5 seconds. If by then the process does not terminate then it will force kill that process before restarting:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter process name: " process
pid=$(pgrep -f $process)
if [ -n "$pid" ]; then
  kill $pid
  sleep 5
  if pgrep -f $process> /dev/null; then
    echo "Process did not exit properly, force killing..."
    kill -9 $pid
  fi
fi
process_path=$(which $process)
$process_path & echo "Process restarted."

Output:

Enter process name: firefox
Process restarted.

48. Monitor a Process and Restart It if Crashes

The script here takes a process name as input from the user and checks for its status every 5 seconds. If the process is running without any issues then it shows a message saying “The process is running”. Otherwise, it restarts the process and continues to check its status again:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter process name: " process
process_path=$(which $process)
while true
do
  if pgrep $process > /dev/null
  then
    echo "The Process $process is running."
    sleep 5
  else
    $process_path &
    echo "The Process $process restarted."
    continue
  fi
done

Output:

Enter process name: firefox
The Process firefox is running.
The Process firefox is running.

49. Display the Top 10 CPU-Consuming Processes

The script below lists the top 10 CPU-consuming processes. It prints the Process ID, the percentage of CPU usage along with the command that runs each process. See the full script:

#!/bin/bash
echo "The current top 10 CPU-consuming processes: "
ps -eo pid,%cpu,args | sort -k 2 -r | head -n 11

Output:

The current top 10 CPU-consuming processes:
PID %CPU COMMAND
2161  0.6 /usr/bin/gnome-shell
1126  0.5 /usr/sbin/mysqld
7593  0.5 /usr/libexec/gnome-terminal-server
832  0.2 /usr/bin/java -Djava.awt.headless=true -jar /usr/share/java/jenkins.war --webroot=/var/cache/jenkins/war --httpPort=8080
668  0.1 /usr/bin/vmtoolsd
5498  0.1 gjs /usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions/[email protected]/ding.js -E -P /usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions/[email protected] -M 0 -D 0:0:1918:878:1:34:0:0:0:0
104  0.0 [zswap-shrink]
86  0.0 [xenbus_probe]
26  0.0 [writeback]
39  0.0 [watchdogd]

50. Display the Top 10 Memory-Consuming Processes

The given script lists the top 10 memory-consuming processes. It prints the Process ID, percentage of memory usage as well as the commands for running each process:

#!/bin/bash
echo "The current top 10 Memory-consuming processes: "
ps -eo pid,%mem,args | sort -k 2 -r | head -n 11

Output:

The current top 10 Memory-consuming processes:
PID %MEM COMMAND
1126  9.7 /usr/sbin/mysqld
832  6.8 /usr/bin/java -Djava.awt.headless=true -jar /usr/share/java/jenkins.war --webroot=/var/cache/jenkins/war --httpPort=8080
2161  6.7 /usr/bin/gnome-shell
2516  2.1 /usr/bin/Xwayland :0 -rootless -noreset -accessx -core -auth /run/user/1000/.mutter-Xwaylandauth.G8UR41 -listen 4 -listen 5 -displayfd 6 -initfd 7
2585  1.9 /usr/libexec/gsd-xsettings
1209  1.5 /usr/bin/dockerd -H fd:// --containerd=/run/containerd/containerd.sock
5498  1.5 gjs /usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions/[email protected]/ding.js -E -P /usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions/[email protected] -M 0 -D 0:0:1918:878:1:34:0:0:0:0
2966  1.4 /usr/bin/gedit --gapplication-service
7593  1.3 /usr/libexec/gnome-terminal-server
2381  1.3 /usr/libexec/evolution-data-server/evolution-alarm-notify

51. Kill Processes of a Specific User

The following script is created to kill all the processes of a specific user. The Specified username is taken as user input. After receiving the username, all the running processes of that user are terminated:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter username: " user
sudo pkill -u $user
echo "All processes of user $user have been terminated."

Output:

Enter username: tom
[sudo] password for susmit:
All processes of user tom have been terminated.

52. Kill All Processes that are Consuming More than a Certain Amount of CPU

This script takes a CPU usage percentage as user input and terminates all the running processes that are consuming more than the entered CPU threshold. If there is no process above that threshold, then it returns a message saying there are no such processes:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter CPU usage threshold: " threshold
if [ "$(ps -eo pid,%cpu | awk -v t=$threshold '$2 > t {print $1}' | 
  wc -c)" -gt 0 ]; then
  for pid in $(ps -eo pid,%cpu | awk -v t=$threshold '$2 > t {print $1}')
  do
    kill $pid
  done
  echo "All processes consuming more than $threshold% CPU killed."
else
  echo "There are no process consuming more than $threshold% CPU."
fi

Output:

Enter CPU usage threshold: 10
There are no process consuming more than 10% CPU.

53. Kill All Processes that are Consuming More than a Certain Amount of Memory

This script takes a memory space percentage as user input and terminates all the running processes that are consuming more than the entered space threshold. If there is no process above that threshold, then it returns a message saying there are no such processes:

#!/bin/bash

read -p "Enter memory usage threshold (in KB): " threshold
if [ "$(ps -eo pid,%mem | awk -v t=$threshold '$2 > t {print $1}' | wc -c)" -gt 0 ]; then

  for pid in $(ps -eo pid,%mem | awk -v t=$threshold '$2 > t {print $1}')

  do
    kill $pid
  done
  echo "All processes consuming more than $threshold KB memory killed."
  else
  echo "There are no process consuming more than $threshold KB memory."
fi

Output:

Enter memory usage threshold (in KB): 10
There are no process consuming more than 10 KB memory.

54. Check the Number of Logged-in Users

View the find the number of logged-in users in your system with the script below. It counts the users that are logged in only at the current time:

#!/bin/bash
users=$(who | wc -l)
echo "Number of currently logged-in users: $users"

Output:

Number of currently logged-in users: 2

55. Check the Operating System Information

The following script displays information regarding the machine’s operating system. It retrieves and lists the OS name, release, version as well and system architecture:

#!/bin/bash
os_name=$(uname -s)
os_release=$(uname -r)
os_version=$(cat /etc/*-release | grep VERSION_ID | cut -d '"' -f 2)
os_arch=$(uname -m)
echo "OS Name: $os_name"
echo "OS Release: $os_release"
echo "OS Version: $os_version"
echo "OS Architecture: $os_arch"

Output:

OS Name: Linux
OS Release: 5.19.0-38-generic
OS Version: 22.04
OS Architecture: x86_64

56. Check the System’s Memory Usage

The script given below calculates the percentage of memory being used. The “$3*100/$2” expression converts the usage into percentages and displays the output with two decimal places:

#!/bin/bash
mem=$(free -m | awk 'NR==2{printf "%.2f%%", $3*100/$2}')
echo "Current Memory Usage: $mem"

Output:

Current Memory Usage: 72.48%

57. Check the System’s Disk Usage

The following script displays the percentage of disk space used on the root (/) file system. It gets the file system’s disk space usage in a human-readable format and prints only the used percentage:

#!/bin/bash
disk=$(df -h | awk '$NF=="/"{printf "%s", $5}')
echo "Current Disk Usage: $disk"

Output:

Current Disk Usage: 80%

58. Check the System’s Network Information

Use the script below to get the network information of your system. It lists the system’s IP address, Gateway address, and DNS server address:

#!/bin/bash
echo " System’s network information:-"
ip=$(hostname -I)
echo "IP Address: $ip"
gw=$(ip route | awk '/default/ { print $3 }')
echo "Gateway: $gw"
dns=$(grep "nameserver" /etc/resolv.conf | awk '{print $2}')
echo "DNS Server: $dns"

Output:

System’s network information:-
IP Address: 192.168.0.109
Gateway: 192.168.0.1
DNS Server: 127.0.0.53

59. Check the Uptime

The given script can be used to find out the uptime of the system. It will return two values. The first one is the current time, and the second one is the uptime i.e. for how long the system has been running. In this example, “up 16:19” indicates that the system has been up for 16 hours and 19 minutes. See the full script below:

#!/bin/bash
uptime | awk '{print $1,$2,$3}' | sed 's/,//'
echo "Uptime: $uptime"

Output:

Uptime: 00:16:38 up 16:19

60. Check the System Load Average

The following script returns the system’s Load Average. It will extract the load averages for the past 1, 5, and 15 minutes from the system’s uptime and display their average on the screen:

#!/bin/bash
loadavg=$(uptime | awk '{print $10,$11,$12}')
echo "Load Average: $loadavg"

Output:

Load Average: 0.36

61. Check the System Architecture

To determine your current machine’s architecture you can run the following script. It returns the system’s architecture. In this example, x86_64 indicates that the machine is using the 64-bit version of the x86 architecture:

#!/bin/bash
arch=$(uname -m)
echo "System Architecture: $arch"

Output:

System Architecture: x86_64

62. Count the Number of Files in the System

You can use the script below to find the available number of files on your machine. It runs the find command to check every file on the system and returns the total file count:

#!/bin/bash
count=$(find / -type f | wc -l)
echo "Number of files in the system: $count."

Output:

Number of files in the system: 500090.

63. Automated Backup

The following script creates a backup file of a given directory. The source directory path and the destination directory path are user inputs. The backup file is named along with the current date for keeping track. Upon completion of the task, it returns the path where the backup archive resides:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter path of the directory to backup: " source_dir
read -p "Enter destination path for backup: " backup_dir
date=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
backup_file="backup-$date.tar.gz"
# Create backup directory if it doesn't exist
if [ ! -d "$backup_dir" ]; then
  mkdir -p "$backup_dir"
fi
# Create backup archive
tar -czf "$backup_dir/$backup_file" "$source_dir"
echo "Completed Creating backup at: $backup_dir."

Output:

Enter path of the directory to backup: /home/susmit/Documents
Enter destination path for backup: /home/susmit/Desktop
tar: Removing leading `/' from member names
Completed Creating backup at: /home/susmit/Desktop.

64. Generate Alert if Disk Space Usage Goes Over a Threshold

The script below generates an alert if the disk space usage goes over a threshold. It takes the threshold and a filename from the user. The alert is then generated in that file along with the disk space usage. If the space consumed is less than the threshold than the file remains empty:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter filename to write alert: " file
touch $file
read -p "Enter disk space threshold: " threshold
df -H | grep -vE "^Filesystem|tmpfs|cdrom" | awk '{ print $5 " " $1 }' | while read output;
do
usage=$(echo $output | awk '{ print $1}' | cut -d'%' -f1)
if [ $usage -ge $threshold ]; then
  partition=$(echo $output | awk '{ print $2 }')
  echo "Alert for \"$partition: Almost out of disk space $usage% as on $(date) " >> $file
  break
fi
done
cat $file

Output:

Enter filename to write alert: alert.log
Enter disk space threshold: 70
Alert for "/dev/sda3: Almost out of disk space 80% as on Thu May 11 01:54:50 AM EDT 2023

65. Create a New User and Add to Sudo Group

You can use the following script to create a new sudo user in your Linux system. The script will take the username and password as input to create the user. It will also create a home directory for the user besides adding the account to the sudo group:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter username: " username
read -p "Enter password: " password
useradd -m -s /bin/bash -p $(openssl passwd -1 $password) $username
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
  usermod -a -G sudo $username
  mkdir /home/$username/mydir
  chown -R $username:$username /home/$username/mydir
  usermod -d /home/$username/mydir $username
  echo "$username ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL" >> /etc/sudoers
  echo "User $username created successfully!"
  echo "User $username added to sudo group!"
else
  echo "Error while creating user!"
fi

Syntax to run the Script: sudo bash bin/adv_example38.sh

Output:

Enter username: Jim
Enter password: linuxsimply
User Jim created successfully!
User Jim added to sudo group!

66. Monitor Network Traffic

The following script monitors the receiving (RX) and transmitting(TX) packets over a network. User needs to enter the interface name that they want to monitor. Then every 10 seconds it will display the total packet received and transmitted and their size in KB:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter network interface to monitor traffic (ex. eth0): " net
while true
do
  rx=$(ifconfig $net | grep "RX packets" | awk '{print $3 $6 $7}')
  tx=$(ifconfig $net | grep "TX packets" | awk '{print $3 $6 $7}')
  echo "$(date) RX: $rx, TX: $tx"
  sleep 10
done

Output:

Enter network interface to monitor traffic (ex. eth0): ens33
Wed May 10 16:55:40 +06 2023 RX: 342(40.4KB), TX: 171(18.4KB)
Wed May 10 16:55:51 +06 2023 RX: 355(41.6KB), TX: 178(19.0KB)
Wed May 10 16:56:01 +06 2023 RX: 361(42.0KB), TX: 178(19.0KB)
Wed May 10 16:56:11 +06 2023 RX: 361(42.0KB), TX: 178(19.0KB)

67. Monitor CPU and Memory Usage

The script below can be used to monitor the CPU and Memory usage of a system. It extracts the CPU and Memory usage information every 10 seconds and converts them into a percentage for displaying on the screen:

#!/bin/bash
while true
do
  cpu=$(top -bn1 | grep "Cpu(s)" | sed "s/.*, *\([0-9.]*\)%* 
id.*/\1/" | awk '{print 100 - $1"%"}')
  mem=$(free -m | awk 'NR==2{printf "%.2f%%", $3*100/$2 }')
  echo "$(date) CPU Usage: $cpu, Memory Usage: $mem"
  sleep 10
done

Output:

Sun May  7 02:19:49 AM EDT 2023 CPU Usage: 29.4%, Memory Usage: 68.78%
Sun May  7 02:19:59 AM EDT 2023 CPU Usage: 7.1%, Memory Usage: 68.78%
Sun May  7 02:20:10 AM EDT 2023 CPU Usage: 25%, Memory Usage: 68.72%
Sun May  7 02:20:20 AM EDT 2023 CPU Usage: 17.6%, Memory Usage: 68.72%
Sun May  7 02:20:30 AM EDT 2023 CPU Usage: 6.2%, Memory Usage: 68.70%

68. Creating a Script and Adding It to PATH

You can use the script below to customize another script and make it runnable. The script here will take another script name and the commands to write within this new script as user inputs. After receiving the input values, it will update the permission modes of the desired script and add it to the $PATH variable to make the new script runnable. After creation, you can run this new script with the bash keyword:

#!/bin/bash

read -p "Enter a name for the command: " my_comm
echo "Enter commands to write on script:"
read comm
read -p "Enter path to the directory containing the command: " comm_path
# Create script for custom command
echo "#!/bin/bash" > $my_comm.sh
echo "$comm" >> $my_comm.sh
# Make script executable
chmod +x $my_comm.sh
# Add script to PATH
export PATH="$PATH$comm_path/$my_comm.sh"
echo "A script called $my_comm has been created."

Output:

Enter a name for the command: echo_hello
Enter commands to write on script:
echo "Hello from custom command!!"
Enter path to the directory containing the command: /home/susmit/bin
A script called echo_hello has been created.

69. Running a Command at Regular Intervals

The script given below runs a command at a regular time interval. To achieve this task the user has to enter the desired command and the interval for running that command. The interval passed as input must be in the following format: m h dom mon dow

#!/bin/bash

read -p "Enter command to run: " com
command_to_run=$(which $com)
read -p "Enter interval for running the command (m h dom mon dow): " interval
# Add command to crontab
(crontab -l ; echo "$interval $command_to_run") | sort - | uniq - | crontab -
echo "Command added to crontab and will run at $interval"

Output:

Enter command to run: echo "1 Minute passed!" >> time.log
Enter interval for running the command (m h dom mon dow): * * * * *
Command added to crontab and will run at * * * * *

70. Downloading Files from a List of URLs

The following script takes a filename as input where a list of URLs should be stored. The script will iterate through the list of URLs and download the available contents on the link. It displays each download information on the terminal along with the “Completed Download” message. Upon downloading files from all the URLs, it shows another message saying “All files downloaded successfully!”:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter the filename containing URLs: " url_file
while read -r url; do
  filename=$(basename "$url")
  curl -o "$filename" "$url"
  echo "Completed Download $filename"
  done < "$url_file"
  echo "--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"
  echo "All files downloaded successfully!"
done

Output:

Enter the filename containing URLs: urls.txt
% Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed
0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:--     0curl: (6) Could not resolve host: linuxsimply.com
Completed Download Emacs-Keybindings-or-Shortcuts-in-Linux.pdf
curl: (3) URL using bad/illegal format or missing URL
Downloaded
% Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed
0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:--     0curl: (6) Could not resolve host: linuxsimply.com
Completed Download Bash-Terminal-Keyboard-Shortcuts-for-Information.pdf
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All files downloaded successfully!

71. Organize Files in a Directory Based on Their File Types

The script given below organizes files in a directory depending on their type. The user needs to give a destination directory path to organize the files along with the source directory path.

This script will create five directories: 1) Documents, 2) Images, 3) Music, 4) Videos, and 5) Others only if they do not already exist on the destination path. Then, it will check all the files and their extension and move them to the corresponding directory. If there is any unknown file extension, then the script will move the file to the Others Directory:

#!/bin/bash
# Specify the source and destination directories
read -p "Enter path to the source directory: " source_dir
read -p "Enter path to the destination directory: " dest_dir
# Create the destination directories if they don't exist
mkdir -p "${dest_dir}/Documents"
mkdir -p "${dest_dir}/Images"
mkdir -p "${dest_dir}/Music"
mkdir -p "${dest_dir}/Videos"
mkdir -p "${dest_dir}/Others"
#Move files to the appropriate directories based on their extensions
for file in "${source_dir}"/*; do
  if [ -f "${file}" ]; then
    extension="${file##*.}"
    case "${extension}" in
    txt|pdf|doc|docx|odt|rtf)
    mv "${file}" "${dest_dir}/Documents"
    ;;
    jpg|jpeg|png|gif|bmp)
    mv "${file}" "${dest_dir}/Images"
    ;;
    mp3|wav|ogg|flac)
    mv "${file}" "${dest_dir}/Music"
    ;;
    mp4|avi|wmv|mkv|mov)
    mv "${file}" "${dest_dir}/Videos"
    ;;
    *)
    mv "${file}" "${dest_dir}/Others"
    ;;
    esac
  fi
done
echo "Files organized successfully!"

Output:

Enter path to the source directory: /home/susmit/Downloads
Enter path to the destination directory: /home/susmit/Downloads_Organized
Files organized successfully!

Conclusion

From complex task automation to efficient data manipulation, you now possess the ability to tackle real-world challenges with confidence. Embrace the power of advanced shell scripting and unlock a world of automation and efficiency.

People Also Ask

What are the practical uses of shell scripting?

Some practical uses of shell scripting are automating repetitive system tasks, such as scheduling file backups, system resources monitoring, and user account management. Utilizing different commands in bash script enables us to increase productivity accuracy and automate complex tasks.

Which shell scripting language is the most popular and why?

Bourne Again SHell (BASH) is the most popular shell used in the Linux Operating System. The BASH can also be installed on Windows OS.

Can we compile shell script?

Yes, we can compile shell scripts. The SHC (Shell Script Compiler) converts shell scripts to executable binaries and encodes and decrypts them. This binary conversion protects the shell scripts from accidental changes and source code modification.

What is $1 in shell script?

In shell script, $1 means the first command line argument passed to the script or function. For example, if you want to pass argument1 to the script.sh, simply execute ./script.sh argument1 on the terminal. Then, within the script, ‘$1’ represents the value of argument1. Similarly, ‘$2’, ‘$3’ would represent the second and third arguments, respectively.

What is the difference between shell script and bash script?

The main difference between shell script and bash script is that shell script is written to be executed by any shell, while bash script is specifically written to be executed by the shell shell. Shell script is compatible with multiple shells, but Bash script is incompatible with other shells. A shell script may not utilize Bash-specific features, but a Bash script utilizes Bash-specific features and enhancements.