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Shell Script Interview Questions

What is Shell Scripting

Text files containing commands to execute by a shell are called shell scripts. In this,
long and repetitive series of commands are compiled into a single script that can be
stored and executed at any time, thereby reducing programming efforts. In shell
scripts, repetitive work is largely avoided. The most common reason for using shell
scripting is to program operating systems of Windows, UNIX, Apple, etc. In addition,
companies use this script to develop an operating system with their own features. In
terms of system-level operations, it is considered to be the easiest programming
language to use. A shell script is referred to as a batch file in DOS operating system,
and EXEC in IBM's mainframe VM operating systems. Shell scripts can be used for
the following applications:

• Automation of the code compiling process.

• Run a program or create an environment for programming.
• Complete batch processing and file manipulation.
• Integrate existing programs.
• Perform routine backups.
• Keeping an eye on a system.
• System administration's tasks
• Creating, maintaining, and implementing system boot scripts

A sample shell script:

echo "hello world"

Run it as follows:
$ bash [Link]
# prints

hello world

Shell Scripting Interview Questions

1. What is Shell?

A Shell is basically a command-line interpreter between user and kernel or a

complete environment specially designed to run commands, shell scripts, and
programs. In this, whenever a user enters human-readable commands (input
commands) through the keyboard, the shell communicates with the kernel to
execute these commands, and display output in a shell script. Just as there are
different flavors of operating systems, there are also different types of shells. Every
shell has its own set of commands and functions. Shells issue the prompt, $, called a
command prompt. You can type into the prompt while it is displayed. After you
press enter, your input is read by the shell. Based on the first word of your input, it
determines the command you want to run. The characters in a word are separated
using spaces and tabs.
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Shell Script Interview Questions

2. Why is a shell script needed?

Shell scripts can be written for a variety of reasons:

• Keeping repetitive tasks to a minimum.

• Can be used by system administrators for routine backups.
• Monitoring the system.
• Adding new functions to the shell.
• Shell scripting allows you to create your own tools.
• System admin can automate daily tasks.

3. Write some advantages of shell scripting.

Shell scripting offers the following benefits:

• An interactive debugging tool, as well as a quick start.

• Programmers need not change their syntax since both command and syntax
are identical to those entered directly into the command line.
• Shell scripts are easy to use and quicker to write.
• It helps automate administrative tasks, so it is time-saving.
• As shell scripts are written in an interpreted language, they can be run
without any additional effort on almost any modern operating system,
including UNIX, Linux, BSD, and Mac OS X.
• They can be utilized for bulk execution rather than single instructions.
• Using it, you can develop your own custom operating system with relevant
features.
• Software applications can be developed according to their respective
platforms with this tool.

4. Write some limitations of shell scripting.

Shell scripting has the following disadvantages:

• Errors are frequent and costly, and a single error can alter the command.
• The execution speed is slow.
• Bugs or inadequacies in the language's syntax or implementation.
• Large, complex tasks aren't well suited to it.
• Contrary to other scripting languages, etc., it provides a minimal data
structure.
• Every time a shell command is executed, a new process is launched.

5. Name the file in which shell programs are stored.

A file called sh stores shell programs. Sh files contain commands written in a

scripting language that is run by Unix shells.

6. Name different types of shells available.

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Shell Script Interview Questions

• Shells are divided into two categories:

o Bourne shell: The $ character is the default prompt when using a
Bourne-type shell.
o C shell: The % character is the default prompt when using a C-type
shell.

The Bourne-type is subdivided into the following categories:

• Bourne Again shell (BASH): This is the most common shell available on all
Linux and based systems. It is open-source and freeware. In addition, it is an
SH-compatible shell, with improved programming and interactive features
over SH. It also allows you to efficiently perform many tasks.
• Korn shell (KSH): Korn is basically a Unix shell that was initially based on the
Bash Shell Scripting. It's a high-level language that's quite advanced. It has
associative arrays and handles the loop syntax better than Bash. It is basically
an improved version of Bourne shell.

The C-type is subdivided into the following categories:

• C shell (CSH): C shell is almost like C itself since it uses the shell syntax of the
C programming language. In most cases, a command is executed either
interactively from a terminal keyboard or from a file.
• TENEX/TOPS C shell (TCSH): TCSH does not have a specific full name. TCSH
is considered as an enhanced version of the CSH as it includes some
additional features over CSH like command-line editing and filename or
command completion. As with the previous version, it supports C-style
syntax also.

7. Write difference between Bourne Shell and C Shell.

• Bourne Shell: It has compactness and speed that set it apart from other
shells. But it lacks interactive features such as the ability to recall previous
commands. Additionally, the Bourne shell does not support arithmetic and
logical expressions.
• C Shell: It is a UNIX enhancement that incorporates interactive features like
aliases and history of commands. Besides its built-in arithmetic and
expression syntax, it also includes convenient programming features.

Difference between Bourne shell and C shell

• The C shell allows you to alias commands easily, whereas Bourne Shell does
not allow this.
• In the C shell, long commands can be used repeatedly, but not in Bourne.
• Bourne does not have access to the command history, but the C shell does.
• In the case of C, there is no need to repeatedly type the command.

8. What do you mean by Shell variable?

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Shell Script Interview Questions

Shell variables are integral parts of all Shell programs and scripts. In general, we
know that variables usually store data either in the form of characters or numbers.
Shell also stores and manipulates information using variables in its programs.
Generally, shell variables are stored as strings. Variables in the shell provide the
information needed for scripts/commands to execute. In the following example, a
shell variable is created and then printed:

variable ="Hello"
echo $variable

9. What are different types of variables mostly used in shell scripting?

Shell scripts usually have two types of variables:

• System-defined variables: Also called environment variables, these are

special built-in variables in the Linux kernel for each shell. They are normally
defined in capital letters by the OS (Linux) and are standard variables.
Example:
SHELL
It is a Unix Defined or System Variable, which specifies the default working
shell.
• User-defined variables: These variables are created and defined by users in
order to store, access, read, and manipulate data. In general, they are defined
in lowercase letters. The Echo command allows you to view them.
Example:
$ a=10
In this case, the user has defined the variable ‘a’ and assigned it the value 10.

10. Explain ways to create shortcuts in Linux.

Links present in Linux OS can be used to create shortcuts as given below:

• Hard Link: Hard links are mirror images of the originally linked files and are
linked with an inode number. A hard-linked file remains even after the
original file is deleted. Since hard links point to inodes, they cannot be
implemented on directories. Hard links are created by the following
command:

$ ln [original filename] [link name]

• Soft Link: Generally, soft links (also referred to as Symbolic links) are linked
to the file name and can reside on the same as well as different file systems.
When a soft link is created or deleted, it does not affect the original file, but
when the original file is deleted, the soft link stops working. Typically, soft
links are aliases (alternative paths) for the original file. Soft links are created
by the following command:
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Shell Script Interview Questions

$ ln -s [original filename] [link name]

11. How to check whether a link is a hard one or a soft link?

We can use -h and -L operators of the test command to check whether a link is hard
or soft (symbolic link).

• -h file //true if the file is a symbolic link

• -L file //true if the file is a symbolic link

One can also use:

readlink FILE; echo $? // This returns 1 if it's a hard link and 0 if it's a symbolic
link.

12. Write difference between Hard link and Soft Link.

Hard Link Soft Link

Hard-linked files have the same inode Soft-linked files have different inode
number. numbers.
Despite deleting the target file, it remains When an original file is deleted, it
valid. becomes invalid.
Hard links are faster than soft links. Soft links are slower than hard links.
The command used for creating a hard The command used for creating a soft link
link in Linux is "ln". in Linux is “ln -s”.
There is no way to use it across file
You can use it on any file system.
systems.
Both absolute and relative paths can be
Hard links cannot use relative paths.
used in soft links.

13. What do you mean by GUI Scripting?

The GUI (Graphical User Interface) is a client/server interface that uses graphical
icons and visual indicators to allow users to interact with devices. Specifically, it is
used to control a computer and its applications. A wide variety of applications are
supported, and it is largely dependent on the operating system.

14. What is the shebang line in shell scripting?

Shell scripts or programs often contain shebang at the top. In general, the Shebang
(the series of characters "#!") is used to indicate the operating system to use a
particular interpreter to process the rest of the file. Here, the symbol '#' is referred
to as hash, and "!" is referred to as bang. This usually aids developers in avoiding
repetitive work. Scripts are generally executed by the engine; therefore, shebang
determines the location of the engine that will be used to run the script.
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Shell Script Interview Questions

Example:

#!/bin/bash

In addition, this line also specifies which shell to use.

15. What is a file system? Write down the four core components of a
Linux file system.

Generally, file systems are referred to as the collections of files, which include
information related to those files. It would be impossible to tell where one piece of
data stops and the next begins without a file system. There are four blocks in a file
system:

• Super Block: A superblock contains information about a file system, including

block size, group size, usage statistics, empty/filled blocks, inode table size &
location, and so on. One of the tools used to describe a file system, along
with inodes, entries, and files, is the superblock. Multiple superblocks are
created with the file system, as the superblock contains critical information.
• Boot Block: Located on the disk label, a boot block is a special set of blocks
that contains data or information on the disk layout. Normally, this block
contains the bootstrap loader program, which a user runs upon launching the
host computer. The boot block remains blank if the file system is not used for
boot.
• Data Block: Also called storage blocks, data blocks contain the remainder of
the space allocated to the file system. The data block's size is measured at
the time of file system creation. For a regular file, the content of files is
contained in the data blocks. For directories, the inode number and file name
of the files are contained in the data blocks.
• Inode: Inodes contain information about each file in the filesystem. Normally,
an inode doesn't contain a file's name, which is located in a directory
instead. An inode contains information such as the type of file, the
permission bits, the owner, the group, the file size, and the time when the file
was modified.

16. Name the alternative command for echo.

The tput command is an alternative command for echo. We can use this command
to control how the output is displayed. Additionally, shell scripts can do things such
as underline text and center text, regardless of the size of the screen.

18. What is the importance of $#?

$# usually holds the number of arguments, although it may be different for

functions. To put it simply, it was used to store the number of command-line
arguments passed to a shell script.

19. Write the command that is used to execute a shell file.

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Shell Script Interview Questions

Firstly, use the chmod command to set execute permission on your script as shown
below:

chmod +x [Link]

Secondly, run or execute your script as follows:

./[Link]

Alternatively, you can execute shell script by:

sh [Link]

20. Name the command that can be used to find out the number of
arguments passed to the script?

The following command will display the number of arguments passed to the
script: echo $ #

21. How long does a variable in a shell script last?

Variables inside shell scripts have a lifespan of only as long as the execution lasts.

22. What does the . (dot) indicate at the beginning of the file name? How
can it be listed?

If the file name begins with ".", it is a hidden file. When a dot appears at the
beginning of a filename, the file is hidden in most file managers and shell programs.
A Shell usually lists all the files except hidden files when you try to list the files in a
shell. Despite this, hidden files can be found in the directory. The Is command must
be run with the "–a" flag if you wish to see hidden files.

23. What is the use of the "$?" command?

By using the command "$?", you can find out the status of the last command
executed.

24. What is the best way to run a script in the background?

For a script to run in the background, simply add "&" at the end of the command.

Example:

[Link] &

command &
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Shell Script Interview Questions

25. What do you mean by crontab?

Crontab stands for "cron table," meaning that it makes use of the cron scheduler to
perform tasks. In other words, it is the list of commands that you wish to run on a
regular schedule and the command that will let you manage it. It is possible to view
or edit the table of commands using the crontab command. In addition to the
schedule, the term "Crontab" also refers to the name of the program used to edit
the schedule.

26. Name the command that is used to take the backup.

The backup is taken using the tar command. Tar is an acronym for tape archive and
is used to create backups using tar, gzip, and bzip. Files can be saved and restored
from and to a tape using this command. In this, files and directories are generally
compressed into tarballs, an archive file. For this purpose, it is among the most
widely used commands. Furthermore, the tarball can be easily moved from one
server to another.

27. Write the difference between $* and $@

Unlike $@, where each quoted argument is treated as a separate argument, $*

treats each positional parameter as a single argument.

28. Name the command that is used to compare the strings in a shell
script.

To compare text strings, use the test command. By comparing each character in
each string, the test command usually compares text strings. In most cases, tests
are generally included as a conditional execution of shell commands. It can be used
for:

• Comparison of file attributes

• Comparison of strings
• Comparing basic arithmetic operations

Using square brackets ([ and ]) around the EXPRESSION is equivalent to testing it

with the test.

Syntax of test command:

• test EXPRESSION
• test EXPRESSION && true-command
• test EXPRESSION || false-command
• test EXPRESSION && true-command || false-command

Examples:

• test 50 -gt 40 && echo "Yes" || echo "No"

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Shell Script Interview Questions

Because 50 is greater than 40, this command prints the text "Yes".

• ["Excellent" = "Excellent"]; echo $?

As the two strings are identical, this command prints "0" because the expression is
true.

29. Write down the Syntax for all the loops in Shell Scripting.

In shell scripting, you can use three looping statements as given below:

• while statement
• for statement

The syntax is as follows:

• For Loop: Loops that operate on lists of items are known as loops. Each item
in the list receives the same set of commands.

Syntax:

for var in word1 word2 ... wordN

do
Statement to be executed
done

Example:

for a in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
do
if [ $a == 3 ]
then
break
fi
echo "Iteration no $a"
done

Output”

$bash -f [Link]
Iteration no 1
Iteration no 2

• While Loop: It involves evaluating a command first and then executing a loop
based on the result. The loop will be terminated if the command raises to
false.

Syntax:

while command
do
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Shell Script Interview Questions

Statement to be executed
done

Example:

a=0
while [ $a -lt 3 ]
do
echo $a
a=`expr $a + 1`
done

Output:

$bash -f [Link]
0
1
2
3
3

30. What are interactive and non-interactive shells?

Interactive shell: /bin/bash and /bin/sh is interactive shell. It is a non-login shell

that gets started from a command line. It first copies the parent environment and
then invokes.

Non-Interactive shell: /sbin/nologin shell is non-interactive shell. It is present when

the shell script is running and just inherits the parent's environment.

31. How will you pass and access arguments to a script in Linux?

In scripts, arguments are passed as follows:

scriptName "Arg1" "Arg2"…."Argn"

Arguments in a script can be accessed as follows:

$1 , $2 .. $n

32. How will you debug a shell script?

With set, you can turn on or off debugging options in the shell:

• Set -x: This displays commands and their arguments as they are being
executed.
• Set -v: It displays shell input lines in real-time as they are read.
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Shell Script Interview Questions

33. What is the best way to debug the shell script/program problems?

Following are some common methods of debugging a script:

• The shell script can be modified to include debug statements to display the
information that can be useful in identifying the problem.
• By setting -x in the script, we can enable debugging.

34. What is the importance of sed command and awk command?

• sed Command: sed command is an acronym for stream editor. It is used for
editing a file without using an editor. The SED command performs a variety
of operations on files, such as searching, finding and replacing, inserting and
deleting. However, substitution or find and replace are the most commonly
used features of SED.
Syntax: sed options file
Example: Execution over Shell Interpreter/Editor

• awk Command: The command is a scripting language generally used to

manipulate data and generate reports. There is no need to compile it and
users are allowed to have access to a variable, string functions, numeric
functions, and logical operations.
Syntax: awk options File Name
An awk command/utility assigns variables in following way:

35. Write the difference between “=” and “==”.

• = operator: Assigning the value into a variable is accomplished by using the =

operator. It is referred to as the assignment operator.
Example: Suppose variable a holds 5 and variable b holds 2, then:

a = $b; #Would assign value of b to a

• == operator: This is used to compare strings. In the double equals operator,

both operands are compared. If they are equal, it returns true, otherwise, it
returns false.
Example: Suppose variable a holds 5 and variable b holds 2, then:

[ $a == $b ]; #Comparing the values of a and b.

36. Name the command that is used to display the shell's environment
variable.

Shell functions, along with other Linux programs, are controlled by environmental
variables. Any child process of the shell has access to an environment variable.
These variables are necessary for some programs to function
properly. env or printenv commands can be used to display the shell's environment
variables.
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Shell Script Interview Questions

37. Name different commands that are available to check the disk usage.

The following commands are available to check disk space usage:

• df – It is used to find out how much space is left on a disk.

• du – With this command, you can find out how much disk space the specified
files and each subdirectory take up.
• dfspace – Using this command, you can check the amount of free disk space
in MB.

38. What do you mean by metacharacters?

In a data field or program, metacharacters are special characters that provide

information about other characters. In shells, they're called regular expressions. A
character that is neither a letter nor a number is generally considered a
metacharacter. Using shell metacharacters, you can group together commands,
redirect and pipe input/output, put commands in the background, reduce the size of
file names and path names, etc. You can use them as wildcards to specify a file
name without typing in the file's full name. The most common metacharacters are as
follows:

• Asterisk (*): Use the * to match any character.

• Question Mark (?): It matches a single character in the filename.
• Brackets ([…]): The metacharacters used here match some specified
characters.
• Hyphen (-): When placed within [] (brackets), the - metacharacter matches a
specified range.

39. How will you find total shells available in your system?

Within your system, there are several shells available. If you want to find all the
shells on the system, you can use $ cat /etc/shells.

Example:

$ cat /etc/shells

Execution over Shell Interpreter/Editor:

$ cat /etc/shells

Output:

/bin/sh

/bin/bash

/sbin/nologin
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Shell Script Interview Questions

/bin/ksh

/bin/csh

40. Explain how you will open a read-only file in Unix/Shell.

You can open a read-only file by: vi –R <Filename>

41. Name the command that one should use to know how long the
system has been running.

Using the Uptime command, you can see how long your system has been active.
You can also determine the number of users with running sessions, and the average
system load for 1, 5, and 15 minutes. The information displayed at once can also be
filtered based on your specified options.

Example: $ uptime

Entering the above command at the shell prompt, namely $ uptime, will produce the
following output:

9:21am up 86 day(s), 11:46, 3 users, load average: 2.24, 2.18, 2.16

42. Write the difference between $$ and $!?

You can use $$ to get the process id of the current process. However, $! displays
the process id for a background process that recently went away.

43. Write difference between grep and find command.

• Grep command: This command facilitates searching and displaying content

based on regular expressions specified by the user. Using the Grep command,
one can search in a file for patterns. Grep command have the following
syntax:
grep “literal string” <filename>

Example:

grep “apple” [Link] //Displays all the lines with the word “apple” in the file1

grep “apple” [Link] [Link] //Scan multiple documents and search the word “apple” in both files.

• Find command: The FIND command searches for files and folders based on
their size, modification time, and access time. You can use this command to
search files and directories. Find command have the following syntax:
find <path> <search criteria> <action>

Example:
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Shell Script Interview Questions

find –type f // Command will find all the files

find –type d //Command will find all the directories

find . –name [Link] //Command will find [Link] in the current directory.

49. How can we create a function in shell script?

In other programming languages, shell functions are much like subroutines,

procedures, and functions. The syntax for declaring a function is as follows:

function_name ()
{
list of commands
}

Function_name is the name of your function, and that's what you'll use to call it
from anywhere in your script. The function name must be followed by parentheses,
then a list of commands enclosed in braces.

Example:

The following example shows how function can be used:

#!/bin/sh
# Define your function here

Hello ()
{
echo "Hello World"
}

# Invoke your function

Hello

The following output will be displayed after execution:

$./[Link]
Hello World

50. How to use pipe commands?

Pipe command allows you to use several commands in the same way, in which the
output of one is used as input for another. Like a pipeline, each process output is
directly input to the next one. A pipe is represented by the symbol "|". The flow of
data through a pipeline is unidirectional, i.e., from left to right.

Syntax :

command_1 | command_2 | command_3 | .... | command_N