Bash Cheat Sheet

This is a quick reference cheat sheet to getting started with linux bash shell scripting.

Also see

Devhints (devhints.io)
Bash-hackers wiki (bash-hackers.org)
Shell vars (bash-hackers.org)
Learn bash in y minutes (learnxinyminutes.com)
Bash Guide (mywiki.wooledge.org)
ShellCheck (shellcheck.net)
shell - Standard Shell (devmanual.gentoo.org)

Miscellaneous

Optional arguments

args=("$@")
args+=(foo)
args+=(bar)
echo "${args[@]}"

Put the arguments into an array and then append

Strict mode

set -euo pipefail
IFS=$'\n\t'

See: Unofficial bash strict mode

Conditional execution

git commit && git push
git commit || echo "Commit failed"

Reading input

echo -n "Proceed? [y/n]: "
read ans
echo $ans

read -n 1 ans    # Just one character

Go to previous directory

pwd # /home/user/foo
cd bar/
pwd # /home/user/foo/bar
cd -
pwd # /home/user/foo

Heredoc

cat <<END
hello world
END

Backslash escapes

Â
!
"
#
&
'
(
)
,
;
<
>
[
|
\
]
^
{
}
`
$
*
? Escape these special characters with \

Grep check

if grep -q 'foo' ~/.bash_history; then
    echo "You appear to have typed 'foo' in the past"
fi

Special variables

Expression	Description
`$?`	Exit status of last task
`$!`	PID of last background task
`$$`	PID of shell
`$0`	Filename of the shell script
See Special parameters.

Check for command's result

if ping -c 1 google.com; then
    echo "It appears you have a working internet connection"
fi

Getting options

while [[ "$1" =~ ^- && ! "$1" == "--" ]]; do case $1 in
    -V | --version )
    echo $version
    exit
    ;;
    -s | --string )
    shift; string=$1
    ;;
    -f | --flag )
    flag=1
    ;;
esac; shift; done
if [[ "$1" == '--' ]]; then shift; fi

printf

printf "Hello %s, I'm %s" Sven Olga
#=> "Hello Sven, I'm Olga
printf "1 + 1 = %d" 2
#=> "1 + 1 = 2"
printf "Print a float: %f" 2
#=> "Print a float: 2.000000"

Trap errors

trap 'echo Error at about $LINENO' ERR

traperr() {
    echo "ERROR: ${BASH\_SOURCE[1]} at about ${BASH\_LINENO[0]}"
}
set -o errtrace
trap traperr ERR

Case/switch

case "$1" in
    start | up)
    vagrant up
    ;;
    *)
    echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop|ssh}"
    ;;
esac

Directory of script

DIR="${0%/\*}"

Source relative

source "${0%/\*}/../share/foo.sh"

Redirection

python hello.py > output.txt   # stdout to (file)
python hello.py >> output.txt  # stdout to (file), append
python hello.py 2> error.log   # stderr to (file)
python hello.py 2>&1           # stderr to stdout
python hello.py 2>/dev/null    # stderr to (null)
python hello.py &>/dev/null    # stdout and stderr to (null)

python hello.py < foo.txt      # feed foo.txt to stdin for python

Inspecting commands

command -V cd
#=> "cd is a function/alias/whatever"

Subshells

(cd somedir; echo "I'm now in $PWD")
pwd # still in first directory

Numeric calculations

$((a + 200))      # Add 200 to $a

$(($RANDOM%200))  # Random number 0..199

Bash History

Slices

Code	Description
`!!:n`	Expand only `n`th token from most recent command (command is `0`; first argument is `1`)
`!^`	Expand first argument from most recent command
`!$`	Expand last token from most recent command
`!!:n-m`	Expand range of tokens from most recent command
`!!:n-$`	Expand `n`th token to last from most recent command
`!!` can be replaced with any valid expansion i.e. `!cat`, `!-2`, `!42`, etc.

Expansions

Expression	Description
`!$`	Expand last parameter of most recent command
`!*`	Expand all parameters of most recent command
`!-n`	Expand `n`th most recent command
`!n`	Expand `n`th command in history
`!<command>`	Expand most recent invocation of command `<command>`

Commands

Command	Description
`history`	Show history
`sudo !!`	Run the previous command with sudo
`shopt -s histverify`	Don't execute expanded result immediately

Bash Options

Glob options

# Non-matching globs are removed 
# ('\*.foo' => '')
shopt -s nullglob   
# Non-matching globs throw errors
shopt -s failglob  
# Case insensitive globs
shopt -s nocaseglob 
# Wildcards match dotfiles 
# ("\*.sh" => ".foo.sh")
shopt -s dotglob    
# Allow \*\* for recursive matches 
# ('lib/\*\*/\*.rb' => 'lib/a/b/c.rb')
shopt -s globstar

Options

# Avoid overlay files
# (echo "hi" > foo)
set -o noclobber
# Used to exit upon error
# avoiding cascading errors
set -o errexit   
# Unveils hidden failures
set -o pipefail  
# Exposes unset variables
set -o nounset

Bash Functions

Raising errors

myfunc() {
    return 1
}

if myfunc; then
    echo "success"
else
    echo "failure"
fi

Returning values

myfunc() {
    local myresult='some value'
    echo $myresult
}

result="$(myfunc)"

Defining functions

myfunc() {
    echo "hello $1"
}

# Same as above (alternate syntax)
function myfunc() {
    echo "hello $1"
}

myfunc "John"

Bash Loops

Reading lines

cat file.txt | while read line; do
    echo $line
done

Forever (shorthand)

while :; do
    # here is some code.
done

Forever

while true; do
    # here is some code.
done

Until

count=0
until [ $count -gt 10 ]; do
    echo "$count"
    ((count++))
done

Break

for number in $(seq 1 3); do
    if [[ $number == 2 ]]; then
        # Skip entire rest of loop.
        break;
    fi
    # This will only print 1
    echo "$number"
done

Continue

for number in $(seq 1 3); do
    if [[ $number == 2 ]]; then
        continue;
    fi
    echo "$number"
done

Auto decrement

i=3
while [[ $i -gt 0 ]]; do
    echo "Number: $i"
    ((i--))
done

Auto increment

i=1
while [[ $i -lt 4 ]]; do
    echo "Number: $i"
    ((i++))
done

Ranges

for i in {1..5}; do
    echo "Welcome $i"
done

#With step size

for i in {5..50..5}; do
    echo "Welcome $i"
done

C-like for loop

for ((i = 0 ; i < 100 ; i++)); do
    echo $i
done

Basic for loop

for i in /etc/rc.*; do
    echo $i
done

Bash Conditionals

logical and, or

if [ "$1" = 'y' -a $2 -gt 0 ]; then
    echo "yes"
fi
if [ "$1" = 'n' -o $2 -lt 0 ]; then
    echo "no"
fi

More conditions

Condition	Description
`[[ -o noclobber ]]`	If OPTION is enabled
`[[ ! EXPR ]]`	Not
`[[ X && Y ]]`	And
`[[ X \|\| Y ]]`	Or

File conditions

Condition	Description
`[[ -e FILE ]]`	Exists
`[[ -d FILE ]]`	Directory
`[[ -f FILE ]]`	File
`[[ -h FILE ]]`	Symlink
`[[ -s FILE ]]`	Size is > 0 bytes
`[[ -r FILE ]]`	Readable
`[[ -w FILE ]]`	Writable
`[[ -x FILE ]]`	Executable
`[[ f1 -nt f2 ]]`	f1 newer than f2
`[[ f1 -ot f2 ]]`	f2 older than f1
`[[ f1 -ef f2 ]]`	Same files

Example

#String

if [[ -z "$string" ]]; then
    echo "String is empty"
elif [[ -n "$string" ]]; then
    echo "String is not empty"
else
    echo "This never happens"
fi

#Combinations

if [[ X && Y ]]; then
    ...
fi

#Equal

if [[ "$A" == "$B" ]]; then
    ...
fi

#Regex

if [[ '1. abc' =~ ([a-z]+) ]]; then
    echo ${BASH\_REMATCH[1]}
fi

#Smaller

if (( $a < $b )); then
   echo "$a is smaller than $b"
fi

#Exists

if [[ -e "file.txt" ]]; then
    echo "file exists"
fi

String conditions

Condition	Description
`[[ -z STR ]]`	Empty string
`[[ -n STR ]]`	Not empty string
`[[ STR == STR ]]`	Equal
`[[ STR = STR ]]`	Equal (Same above)
`[[ STR < STR ]]`	Less than (ASCII)
`[[ STR > STR ]]`	Greater than (ASCII)
`[[ STR != STR ]]`	Not Equal
`[[ STR =~ STR ]]`	Regexp

Integer conditions

Condition	Description
`[[ NUM -eq NUM ]]`	Equal
`[[ NUM -ne NUM ]]`	Not equal
`[[ NUM -lt NUM ]]`	Less than
`[[ NUM -le NUM ]]`	Less than or equal
`[[ NUM -gt NUM ]]`	Greater than
`[[ NUM -ge NUM ]]`	Greater than or equal
`(( NUM < NUM ))`	Less than
`(( NUM <= NUM ))`	Less than or equal
`(( NUM > NUM ))`	Greater than
`(( NUM >= NUM ))`	Greater than or equal

Bash Dictionaries

Working with dictionaries

echo ${sounds[dog]} # Dog's sound
echo ${sounds[@]}   # All values
echo ${!sounds[@]}  # All keys
echo ${#sounds[@]}  # Number of elements
unset sounds[dog]   # Delete dog

Defining

declare -A sounds

sounds[dog]="bark"
sounds[cow]="moo"
sounds[bird]="tweet"
sounds[wolf]="howl"

Bash Arrays

Arrays as arguments

function extract()
{
    local -n myarray=$1
    local idx=$2
    echo "${myarray[$idx]}"
}
Fruits=('Apple' 'Banana' 'Orange')
extract Fruits 2     # => Orangle

Operations

Fruits=("${Fruits[@]}" "Watermelon")     # Push
Fruits+=('Watermelon')                   # Also Push
Fruits=( ${Fruits[@]/Ap\*/} )             # Remove by regex match
unset Fruits[2]                          # Remove one item
Fruits=("${Fruits[@]}")                  # Duplicate
Fruits=("${Fruits[@]}" "${Veggies[@]}")  # Concatenate
lines=(`cat "logfile"`)                  # Read from file

Iteration

Fruits=('Apple' 'Banana' 'Orange')
for e in "${Fruits[@]}"; do
    echo $e
done

#With index

for i in "${!Fruits[@]}"; do
  printf "%s\t%s\n" "$i" "${Fruits[$i]}"
done

Indexing

-	-
`${Fruits[0]}`	First element
`${Fruits[-1]}`	Last element
`${Fruits[*]}`	All elements
`${Fruits[@]}`	All elements
`${#Fruits[@]}`	Number of all
`${#Fruits}`	Length of 1st
`${#Fruits[3]}`	Length of nth
`${Fruits[@]:3:2}`	Range
`${!Fruits[@]}`	Keys of all

Defining arrays

Fruits=('Apple' 'Banana' 'Orange')
Fruits[0]="Apple"
Fruits[1]="Banana"
Fruits[2]="Orange"
ARRAY1=(foo{1..2}) # => foo1 foo2
ARRAY2=({A..D})    # => A B C D
# Merge => foo1 foo2 A B C D
ARRAY3=(${ARRAY1[@]} ${ARRAY2[@]})
# declare construct
declare -a Numbers=(1 2 3)
Numbers+=(4 5) # Append => 1 2 3 4 5

Bash Parameter expansions

Transform

STR="HELLO WORLD!"
echo ${STR,}   # => hELLO WORLD!
echo ${STR,,}  # => hello world!
STR="hello world!"
echo ${STR^}   # => Hello world!
echo ${STR^^}  # => HELLO WORLD!
ARR=(hello World)
echo "${ARR[@],}" # => hello world
echo "${ARR[@]^}" # => Hello World

basepath & dirpath

SRC="/path/to/foo.cpp"

BASEPATH=${SRC##\*/}   
echo $BASEPATH  # => "foo.cpp"
DIRPATH=${SRC%$BASEPATH}
echo $DIRPATH   # => "/path/to/"

Slicing

name="John"
echo ${name}           # => John
echo ${name:0:2}       # => Jo
echo ${name::2}        # => Jo
echo ${name::-1}       # => Joh
echo ${name:(-1)}      # => n
echo ${name:(-2)}      # => hn
echo ${name:(-2):2}    # => hn
length=2
echo ${name:0:length}  # => Jo

See: Parameter expansion

Substitution

echo ${food:-Cake}  #=> $food or "Cake"

STR="/path/to/foo.cpp"
echo ${STR%.cpp}    # /path/to/foo
echo ${STR%.cpp}.o  # /path/to/foo.o
echo ${STR%/\*}      # /path/to
echo ${STR##\*.}     # cpp (extension)
echo ${STR##\*/}     # foo.cpp (basepath)
echo ${STR#\*/}      # path/to/foo.cpp
echo ${STR##\*/}     # foo.cpp
echo ${STR/foo/bar} # /path/to/bar.cpp

Syntax

Code	Description
`${FOO%suffix}`	Remove suffix
`${FOO#prefix}`	Remove prefix
`${FOO%%suffix}`	Remove long suffix
`${FOO##prefix}`	Remove long prefix
`${FOO/from/to}`	Replace first match
`${FOO//from/to}`	Replace all
`${FOO/%from/to}`	Replace suffix
`${FOO/#from/to}`	Replace prefix

#Substrings

Expression	Description
`${FOO:0:3}`	Substring (position, length)
`${FOO:(-3):3}`	Substring from the right

#Length

Expression	Description
`${#FOO}`	Length of `$FOO`

#Default values

Expression	Description
`${FOO:-val}`	`$FOO`, or `val` if unset
`${FOO:=val}`	Set `$FOO` to `val` if unset
`${FOO:+val}`	`val` if `$FOO` is set
`${FOO:?message}`	Show message and exit if `$FOO` is unset

Getting Started

Shell execution

# => I'm in /path/of/current
echo "I'm in $(PWD)"
# Same as:
echo "I'm in `pwd`"

See: Command substitution

Brace expansion

echo {A,B}.js

Expression	Description
`{A,B}`	Same as `A B`
`{A,B}.js`	Same as `A.js B.js`
`{1..5}`	Same as `1 2 3 4 5`
See: Brace expansion

Conditionals

if [[ -z "$string" ]]; then
    echo "String is empty"
elif [[ -n "$string" ]]; then
    echo "String is not empty"
fi

See: Conditionals

Functions

get\_name() {
    echo "John"
}
echo "You are $(get\_name)"

See: Functions

Arguments

Expression	Description
`$1` â¦ `$9`	Parameter 1 … 9
`$0`	Name of the script itself
`$1`	First argument
`${10}`	Positional parameter 10
`$#`	Number of arguments
`$$`	Process id of the shell
`$*`	All arguments
`$@`	All arguments, starting from first
`$-`	Current options
`$_`	Last argument of the previous command
See: Special parameters

Comments

# This is an inline Bash comment.

: '
This is a
very neat comment
in bash
'

Multi-line comments use :' to open and ' to close

Variables

NAME="John"
echo ${NAME}    # => John (Variables)
echo $NAME      # => John (Variables)
echo "$NAME"    # => John (Variables)
echo '$NAME'    # => $NAME (Exact string)
echo "${NAME}!" # => John! (Variables)
NAME = "John"   # => Error (about space)

hello.sh

#!/bin/bash
VAR="world"
echo "Hello $VAR!" # => Hello world!

Execute the script

$ bash hello.sh

1
Also see
2
Miscellaneous
3
Bash History
4
Bash Options
5
Bash Functions
6
Bash Loops
7
Bash Conditionals
8
Bash Dictionaries
9
Bash Arrays
10
Bash Parameter expansions
11
Getting Started