Create simple to advanced shell scripts and enhance your system functionality with effective recipes

Key Features

• Automate tedious and repetitive tasks
• Create several novel applications ranging from a simple IRC logger to a Web Scraper
• Manage your system efficiently by becoming a seasoned Bash user

Book Description

In Linux, one of the most commonly used and most powerful tools is the Bash shell. With its collection of engaging recipes, Bash Cookbook takes you through a series of exercises designed to teach you how to effectively use the Bash shell in order to create and execute your own scripts.

The book starts by introducing you to the basics of using the Bash shell, also teaching you the fundamentals of generating any input from a command. With the help of a number of exercises, you will get to grips with the automation of daily tasks for sysadmins and power users. Once you have a hands-on understanding of the subject, you will move on to exploring more advanced projects that can solve real-world problems comprehensively on a Linux system. In addition to this, you will discover projects such as creating an application with a menu, beginning scripts on startup, parsing and displaying human-readable information, and executing remote commands with authentication using self-generated Secure Shell (SSH) keys.

By the end of this book, you will have gained significant experience of solving real-world problems, from automating routine tasks to managing your systems and creating your own scripts.

What you will learn

• Understand the basics of Bash shell scripting on a Linux system
• Gain working knowledge of how redirections and pipes interact
• Retrieve and parse input or output of any command
• Automate tasks such as data collection and creating and applying a patch
• Create a script that acts like a program with different features
• Customize your Bash shell and discover neat tricks to extend your programs
• Compile and install shell and log commands on your system's console using Syslog

Who this book is for

The Bash Cookbook is for you if you are a power user or system administrator involved in writing Bash scripts in order to automate tasks. This book is also ideal if you are interested in learning how to automate complex daily tasks.

Table of Contents

1. Crash Course in Bash
2. Acting Like a Typewriter and File Explorer
3. Understanding and Gaining File System Mastery
4. Making a Script Behave Like a Daemon
5. Scripts for System Administration Tasks
6. Scripts for Power Users
7. Writing Bash to Win and Profit
8. Advanced Scripting Techniques