Lesson 10

Unix Shell Script Conclusion

This module provided all the information you need to create and execute a shell script file, including how to designate a text file as a shell script and set the file permissions so that UNIX will execute the file’s contents.
You also learned how to start a shell script from a command line. You reviewed using the vi text editor to create a file.

What is a Script?

In the simplest case, a script is nothing more than a list of system commands stored in a file. At the very least, this saves the effort of retyping that particular sequence of commands each time it is invoked.
Example 4-10.1: 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."
There is nothing unusual here, only

There is nothing unusual here, only a set of commands that could just as easily have been invoked one by one from the command-line on the console or in a terminal window. The advantages of placing the commands in a script go far beyond not having to retype them time and again. The script becomes a program -- a tool -- and it can easily be modified or customized for a particular application
Example 4-10.2: 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.

Example 4-10.3: cleanup: An enhanced and generalized version of above scripts.

#!/bin/bash
# Cleanup, version 3
LOG_DIR=/var/log
ROOT_UID=0 # Only users with $UID 0 have root privileges.
LINES=50 # Default number of lines saved.
E_XCD=86 # Can't change directory?
E_NOTROOT=87 # Non-root exit error.
# Run as root, of course.
if [ "$UID" -ne "$ROOT_UID" ]
then
echo "Must be root to run this script."
exit $E_NOTROOT
fi
if [ -n "$1" ]
# Test whether command-line argument is present (non-empty).
then
lines=$1
else
lines=$LINES # Default, if not specified on command-line.
fi

# E_WRONGARGS=85 # Non-numerical argument (bad argument format).
#
# case "$1" in
# "" ) lines=50;;
# *[!0-9]*) echo "Usage: `basename $0` lines-to-cleanup";
# exit $E_WRONGARGS;;
# * ) lines=$1;;
# esac
#
#* Skip ahead to "Loops" chapter to decipher all this.
# -----
cd $LOG_DIR
if [ `pwd` != "$LOG_DIR" ] # or if [ "$PWD" != "$LOG_DIR" ]
# Not in /var/log?
then
echo "Can't change to $LOG_DIR."
exit $E_XCD
fi # Doublecheck if in right directory before messing with log file.

Commands and shell script components

Commands that you used in this module include:

echo, to print information on the screen (or Standard Output channel)
read, to collect user input from the keyboard (or Standard Input channel)
chmod, to change the file permissions so that a shell script file can be executed
#! to indicate the path to the shell used to run the script
# to indicate a comment within a shell script

In the next module you will learn about using different types of variables within your shell scripts.