Bash Shell Scripting Basics Online Course

Bash Shell Scripting Basics Online Course

This course is designed to teach you Bash shell scripting from the ground up. It covers everything from writing basic scripts to using advanced automation techniques in Unix/Linux environments. By the end of this course, you will be able to write, debug, and optimize Bash scripts for automating tasks, managing system configurations, and improving productivity. You will also learn how to work with command-line utilities, filters like grep, awk, and sed, loops, conditional statements, remote server automation, REST API interaction, and regular expressions. This course is ideal for system administrators, DevOps engineers, software developers, and IT professionals who want to improve their Linux automation skills.

Key Benefits

• Step-by-Step Learning – Covers both basic and advanced scripting techniques.
• Hands-on Practice – Real-world examples and practical exercises to strengthen skills.
• Covers Essential Unix Tools – Learn how to use grep, awk, sed, and other powerful tools.
• Automation Skills – Learn how to automate system tasks, manage configurations, and work with APIs.
• Remote Server Management – Work with SSH, SCP, and automate server interactions.
• Regular Expressions and Text Processing – Master pattern matching and data manipulation.
• Ideal for DevOps and System Administration – Enhance your skills in cloud automation and software deployment.

Target Audience

This course is perfect for:

• System Administrators who want to automate repetitive tasks.
• DevOps Engineers who work with Linux-based environments.
• Software Developers who need to integrate Bash scripting into their workflow.
• Database Administrators looking to manage and automate database tasks.
• AWS and Cloud Engineers who want to automate infrastructure management.
• IT Professionals interested in Unix/Linux administration.

Even if you are a beginner with basic Linux command-line knowledge, this course will help you become proficient in Bash scripting.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, you will:

• Write and execute Bash shell scripts in Unix/Linux environments.
• Use loops, conditions, and functions to build efficient automation scripts.
• Work with filters like grep, awk, and sed to process and manipulate text.
• Automate remote server tasks using SSH and SCP.
• Integrate REST APIs into Bash scripts using the curl command.
• Use regular expressions to match and extract text patterns.
• Debug and optimize scripts for better performance.
• Automate system monitoring, software installations, and data management tasks.

Course Outline

The Bash Shell Scripting Basics Exam covers the following topics - 

Domain 1. Introduction to Bash Scripting

• Course overview and key topics covered.
• Basic prerequisites and required setup.
• Who should take this course?

Domain 2. Setting Up the Environment for Bash Scripting

• Installing Linux or CentOS using WSL on Windows.
• Enabling systemctl for better service management in WSL.
• Setting up Gmail SMTP in CentOS for automated emails.
• Accessing files between Windows and WSL Linux.
• Writing and executing a simple Bash script.
• Different ways to run shell scripts in Linux.
• Running CentOS terminal inside Visual Studio Code.
• Fixing chmod permission issues in WSL Linux.
• Automating software installation (Docker, Ansible, Java, nginx, httpd) using Bash.

Domain 3. Basics of Bash Scripting

• How shell scripts are executed.
• Using semicolons ; to separate multiple commands.

Domain 4. Understanding Variables in Bash

• What are variables and how to define them?
• Checking and resetting variable values.
• Different types of variables in Bash scripting.
• Rules for defining variables correctly.
• Understanding syntax in Bash scripting.

Domain 5. Handling Inputs and Outputs

• Using echo for displaying text and variables.
• Practicing with variables and echo command.
• Linking Windows paths to WSL home directory.
• Using read to accept user input.
• Using source and export for variable management.
• Handling command-line arguments with shift command.

Domain 6. String Operations in Bash

• Performing basic string manipulations.
• Working with file paths using string operations.

Domain 7. Working with Arrays in Bash

• Introduction to arrays in shell scripting.
• Accessing array elements and performing operations.
• Why arrays are useful in automation scripts?
• Providing inputs for arrays dynamically.

Domain 8. Using Dictionaries (Associative Arrays) in Bash

• Basics of associative arrays and how to use them in Bash.

Domain 9. Essential Unix Commands for Bash Scripting

• Checking exit status of commands.
• Understanding input/output redirection (STDIN, STDOUT, STDERR).
• Running commands dynamically using variables.
• Extracting text from files using cut.
• Using awk to extract specific data from text files.
• Searching for text patterns using grep.
• Using variables inside grep commands.
• Introduction to sed for text replacement and editing.
• Advanced sed operations for inserting, replacing, and deleting lines.
• Combining tr with cut and kill -9 for task automation.
• Performing arithmetic calculations in Bash scripts.

Domain 10. Working with Command Operators in Bash

• Understanding command-chaining techniques.
• Using pipes | to pass output between commands.
• Using semicolons ; to execute multiple commands in sequence.
• Logical AND (&&) and OR (||) operators for scripting logic.
• Finding installed package locations using Bash scripting.
• Running and grouping blocks of code.

Domain 11. Using Conditional Statements in Bash

• Understanding test command for condition checking.
• Using exit command in scripts.
• Writing if, if-else, and elif statements for decision-making.
• Debugging Bash scripts effectively.

Domain 12. Hands-on Scripting Exercises

• Writing a script to read and display file content.
• Automating software installations using yum.

Domain 13. Advanced Conditional Statements

• Understanding if, elif, and case statements.
• Writing scripts to check software versions and send automated emails.

Domain 14. Automating Tasks with Scheduled Jobs

• Using at command for one-time scheduled tasks.
• Automating recurring tasks with cron.

Domain 15. Logging and Comments in Bash Scripts

• Writing comments for better script documentation.
• Logging script outputs for debugging and tracking.

Domain 16. Using Functions in Bash Scripts

• Defining reusable functions in scripts.
• Passing arguments and working with function inputs.
• Automating package installations using functions.
• Understanding scope of variables in functions.
• Reusing functions across multiple scripts.

Domain 17. Here Documents and Here Strings in Bash

• Understanding and using heredoc and herestring in scripts.

Domain 18. Looping in Bash Scripting

• Introduction to loops (for, while, until, select).
• Looping through arrays and lists.
• Handling file deletions with automated email alerts.
• Breaking and continuing loops based on conditions.
• Using getopts for processing command-line arguments in loops.

Domain 19. Working with REST APIs in Bash

• Using curl command to interact with REST APIs.
• Validating API responses in scripts.

Domain 20. Automating Remote Server Tasks

• Running commands on remote servers using SSH.
• Automating SSH logins using sshpass.
• Securely transferring files using SCP.
• Using expect command to automate SSH password entry.

Domain 21. Real-World Bash Scripting Projects

• Monitoring services and sending alerts via email.
• Writing scripts to check application health.
• Checking and monitoring application logs.
• Automating Git version installation.

Domain 22. Using Regular Expressions in Bash

• Understanding regex for pattern matching and extraction.
• Writing regex patterns for grep, sed, and awk.

Domain 23. Mastering printf Command in Bash

• Using printf for formatted output.