Learning Bash Scripting

2h 43mBeginner2025-07-01

Authors

Scott Simpson

Creating Technology Courses as a Senior Staff Author at LinkedIn

Course details

Bash is a popular command line interpreter, and it’s the default option on most Linux distributions. If you spend much time working with Linux, you’re bound to come across it time and time again. If you do any kind of Linux administration, you’ll find yourself creating and using bash scripts frequently. In this course, Scott Simpson explains how to create a script, make it executable, and run it. Scott takes you through programming tasks, dives into Bash control structures, and highlights how to interact with the user. Plus, he shows you how to troubleshoot your scripts.

Skills covered

BashIT AutomationServer AdministrationNetwork and System AdministrationOpen SourceOne-Off

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Learning Bash scripting
02 - Following along on a PC
03 - Following along using GitHub Codespaces

1. Using Bash

04 - What's Bash
05 - Pipes and redirections
06 - Bash builtins and other commands
07 - Brackets and braces in Bash
08 - Bash expansions and substitutions
09 - Brace expansion
10 - Parameter expansion
11 - Command substitution
12 - Arithmetic expansion

2. Programming with Bash

13 - Understanding Bash script syntax
14 - Displaying text with echo
15 - Working with variables
16 - Working with numbers
17 - Comparing values with test
18 - Comparing values with extended test
19 - Formatting and styling text output
20 - Formatting output with printf
21 - Working with arrays
22 - Challenge - Make a script that generates a system report
23 - Solution - Make a script that generates a system report

3. Bash Control Structures

24 - Conditional statements with the if keyword
25 - Working with while and until loops
26 - Introducing for loops
27 - Selecting behavior using case
28 - Using functions
29 - Reading and writing text files
30 - Challenge - Build a script using control structures
31 - Solution - Build a script using control structures

4. Interacting with the User

32 - Working with arguments
33 - Working with options
34 - Getting input during execution
35 - Ensuring a response
36 - Challenge - Make a script that uses input
37 - Solution - Make a script that uses input

5. Bash in the Real World

38 - Troubleshooting
39 - Ensuring script portability

Conclusion

40 - Next steps