Bash scripts

Sometimes, we need to run a complex sequence of bash commands which we do not want to memorise and type out every time. Fortunately we can save our bash commands in a file and run that file instead.

Making a script

Let's navigate to our notes project

cd ~/Repos/notes

and create a new file called hello.sh

touch hello.sh

Let's open up this new file in VS Code

code .

and use VS Code to add some content to the hello.sh file

echo "Hello from my script!"

Make sure to save the hello.sh file.

Changing permissions

For security reasons, we cannot run this script by default. We need to make it executable. This fairly straightforward:

chmod +x hello.sh

The chmod utility allows us to change file metadata, and the +x makes it executable.

Running the script

To run the executable script, simply pass the path to the script:

./hello.sh

and hit enter. Note that you do need the ./ or else bash will go looking in the wrong place for your script.

You should see Hello, from my script! in the terminal.