First Technology Transfer

Linux Tools Utilities and Bash Scripting

Duration: 4 Days

Intended Audience

Prerequisites

Key topics covered

• BASH language - syntax and common scripting idioms
• Advanced variable and array manipulation
• Structured shell scripts that contain advanced decision making constructs
• Use of tracing features to debug shell scripts
• Implementation of advanced data stream handling by making use of process substitution
• Structured Bash scripting via use of functions
• Integrate BASH scripts with scripts written in other languages e.g. Python, awk
• Designing and implementing scripts with testability, maintainability and efficiency in mind

Detailed Course Outline

• Command line commands - syntax, structure and processing
• Command-line structure and syntax
• Shell interpretation steps
• Filename expansion
• Variable and command expansions
• Quoting
• Redirection
• Here documents
• Pipes
• Working with BASH
  • Shell command line options
  • Bash shell command line options
  • Start-up files
  • Builtin shell variables
  • Aliases and functions
  • Command-line history recall and editing
  • echo and help
• Shell Scripts
• Creating shell scripts
• The #! notation (shebang notation)
• Creating processes
• The exec command
• Exit status
• Commenting using # in shell scripts
• Running shell scripts
• BASH_ENV
• Command groups and sub-shells
• Shell Variables
  • Legal variable names
  • Creating variables
  • The read command
  • Exporting variables
  • Special characters
  • Checking the environment
  • eval
• Parameters and Builtin Variables
  • Positional parameters
  • Access to positional parameters
  • $*, $@, and $#
  • Changing positional aparmeters
  • $* versus $@
  • Other special variables
• Controlling and Debugging Scripts
  • Sending signals,
  • Receiving and handling signals using the trap command
  • Shell tracing techniques
  • Tracing shell expansions
  • DEBUG and ERR traps
  • Performing a Dry run of a script
  • The script command
  • Interpreting Error messages when testing and debugging scripts
• Flow Control - Choice and Iteration
• Testing commands
• 'if' statements
• 'while' and 'until' loops
• Bourne shell test command
• Korn shell test command
• Bourne and Korn syntax compared
• Numeric tests
• Variable Expansion/Substitution
• Extracting a sub-string
• Deleting a sub-string
• Editing sub-strings
• Test and set/exit expansions
• The colon command
• Variables - Advanced Topic
• Variable attributes
• Compound assignments
• Arithmetic conditionals
• Working with floating-point values
• Iteration - In Depth
  • List processing - 'for' loop
  • Processing positional parameters
  • 'break' and 'continue'
  • Infinite loops
  • The 'select' loop
  • Reading in a loop from a file
  • Reading in a loop from a program (process substitution)
• Advanced Testing and Branching
  • Statement short-cuts
  • I/O redirection with if-then-fi
  • The 'case' statement
  • case flow control - Bash 4
  • Shell pattern matching
  • Extended pattern operators
  • Locales and character classes
• Functions and Structured Shell Scripting
  • Functions vs. scripts
  • Defining/implementing functions
  • Listing and removing functions
  • Function parameters and return values
  • Local and global variables
  • Storing functions - locally vs. storing in external files
  • Exported functions
  • Using external function libraries
• Advanced Scripts
  • Parsing script options with getopts
  • Handling errors
  • Formatting output - printf
  • Programming for maintainability and reusability
  • Programming for performance
• Advanced Arrays and Array Handling
  • Arrays in Bash
  • Bash array syntax
  • Initialising arrays
  • Appending to an array
  • Finding array limits
  • Using read with an array
  • Using mapfile/readarray
  • Associative arrays
• Advanced IO
• Using file descriptors
• Block redirection
• Named pipes (FIFOs)
• Process substitution
• sed Scripting and combining sed with bash
• Running sed
• Basic regular expressions
• sed line addressing
• awk Scripting and combining awk with bash
  • The awk programming model
  • awk variables
  • awk opeators
  • Comparing awk with shell constructs
• Overview of Combining Bash and Python
  • Overview of Python and its many packages
  • Invoking Python scripts from with Bash
  • Invoking Bash scripts from within Python
  • Some examples and demonstrations

Note: We can and have run bespoke advanced Bash + Python combined Courses.

Call us:

Technical enqiries: 020 8669 0769
Sales enquiries: 020 8647 1939, 020 77681 40786