Jack Wallen shows how you can create a Linux shell script that requires a password without having to save a password within the script. Image: dennizn/Adobe Stock ...

I realize I've been playing a bit fast and loose with my shell scripts over the last few months, because I haven't talked about how to ensure that error conditions ...

Imagine that you want to output multiple lines of text in Bash, or any shell script. Maybe it’s for a help string for a particularly convoluted shell script you’re writing. You could have a separate ...

Wicked Cool Shell Scripts: 101 Scripts for Linux, OS X, and Unix Systems by Dave Taylor and Brandon Perry, 2 nd edition, no starch press (2017) is a book that can lift you up a notch in the super Unix ...

Historically, operating systems generally come with some form of scripting language which admins and power users can use to create custom tools. Harking back to the home computer craze of the 1970s ...

Automation: Shell scripts allow you to automate repetitive tasks and processes, saving time and reducing the risk of errors that can occur with manual execution. Portability: Shell scripts can be run ...

A recent post about debugging constructs surprised me. There were quite a few comments about how you didn’t need a debugger, as long as you had printf. For that matter, we’ve all debugged systems ...