Shell Scripting – SEBI Grade A IT (Exam

Notes)

1. Introduction
• A shell script is a text file containing a sequence of Linux commands with logic
(variables, loops, conditions).
• Common shell: bash.

Shebang (first line of script):

#!/bin/bash

This tells the system which interpreter to use.

Steps to run a script:

chmod +x [Link] # give execute permission

./[Link] # run
# or
bash [Link]

2. Command-Line Arguments & Special Variables

When you run:

./[Link] arg1 arg2 arg3

Inside [Link] the shell provides special variables:

PYQ: “Which special variable in Linux shell scripting gives the number of parameters used
to script?”
Answer: $#

TVK – Telegram, YouTube

Example 1 – Simple greeting
#!/bin/bash

echo "Hello: $1"

Run:

./[Link] Alisha

Output:

Hello: Alisha

3. Conditions, Comparisons & exit Status

3.1 Numeric comparisons in [ ]

Used for comparing numbers:

• -lt → less than

• -le → less than or equal
• -gt → greater than
• -ge → greater than or equal
• -eq → equal
• -ne → not equal

Important: There must be spaces:

if [ "$age" -le 0 ]; then

echo "Wrong value"
fi

(Not: [ $age-le 0 ])

3.2 Exit status of commands – $?

• Every command returns an exit status between 0 and 255.

• 0 → success
• Non-zero → error

Check using $?:

pwd -adsfffsf # invalid option

echo $? # non-zero (command failed)

3.3 exit command in scripts

exit N ends the script immediately and sets exit status to N.

TVK – Telegram, YouTube

 • If N is not given, exit code of the last command is used.
• This can be used by other scripts/commands.

Example – age validation:

#!/bin/bash

age="$1"

if [ "$age" -le 0 ]; then

echo "You seem to have entered wrong value"
echo "Age cannot be negative or zero"
exit 1 # non-zero → failure
fi

echo "Welcome to shell programming! Let's get started"

If you run:

./[Link] -5

Output:

You seem to have entered wrong value

Age cannot be negative or zero

Script stops at exit 1.

4. Variables in Shell Scripting

4.1 Normal shell variables

• No data types; everything is string by default.

• No spaces around =.

name="Sanjay" # correct
age=25 # correct
x = 10 # incorrect

Use them with $:

echo "Name is $name and age is $age"

4.2 Environment variables

Environment variables are visible to child processes (sub-shells, programs).

Some common ones:

• PATH, HOME, USER, SHELL etc.

TVK – Telegram, YouTube

Set environment variable:

MYVAR="hello"
export MYVAR
# or simply
export MYVAR="hello"

Check:

echo "$MYVAR"

PYQ type: “How to set environment variables in shell?”

✔ Use: export VAR=value

5. return vs exit
Both give a status code (0–255), but they behave differently:

• exit N
o Used in main script.
o Terminates the entire script.
• return N
o Used inside functions.
o Returns from the function to the caller but continues script execution.

Example: function with return

#!/bin/bash

check_even() {
if [ $(( $1 % 2 )) -eq 0 ]; then
return 0 # even
else
return 1 # odd
fi
}

check_even "$1" # call function with 1st argument

if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
echo "Even number"
else
echo "Odd number"
fi

TVK – Telegram, YouTube

6. Important Basic Linux Commands (with Examples)
These are high-yield for objective questions and practical understanding.

6.1 Date, calendar, user info

Command Description Example

date Show current date & time date
cal Show calendar cal, cal 2025
whoami Show current logged-in user whoami

6.2 Directory & path commands

Command Description Example

pwd Print current working directory path pwd → /home/sanjay/projects
cd Change directory cd /var/log, cd .., cd ~
mkdir Make a new directory mkdir notes, mkdir -p a/b/c

PYQ: “Which Linux command is used to display the current directory path?”
Answer: pwd
(cwd is only a term for current working directory, not a standard command.)

6.3 File-related commands

Command Description Example

ls List files/directories ls, ls -l, ls -a, ls *.sh
file Show file type file [Link]
touch Create empty file/update timestamp touch [Link]
cp Copy files/directories cp [Link] [Link], cp -r dir1 dir2
mv Move/rename files & directories mv [Link] [Link], mv file /tmp/
rm Remove files/directories rm [Link], rm -r dir, rm -rf dir
clear Clear terminal screen clear or Ctrl+L

open is mainly a macOS command:

• macOS: open [Link] → opens file in default app.

• On Linux: equivalent is usually xdg-open [Link].

6.4 Wildcards, echo, tail, sort

TVK – Telegram, YouTube

 Topic /
Description Example
Command
*
Wildcard: matches any sequence of ls *.sh → all files ending with
characters .sh
echo "Hello", echo "User:
echo Print text/variables $USER"
tail [Link], tail -n 20
tail Show last few lines of a file [Link]
sort [Link], sort -r, sort
sort Sort lines of text -n

You had tall in your list – that’s almost certainly tail.

6.5 Permissions & ownership

Command Description Example

chmod +x [Link], chmod 644
chmod Change file permissions [Link]
chown Change file owner sudo chown sanjay [Link]
chgrp Change file group sudo chgrp developers [Link]

sudo
Run a command as superuser sudo apt update
(root)

Numeric permissions:

• r= 4, w = 2, x = 1
• Example: chmod 755 [Link]
o Owner: 7 → rwx
o Group: 5 → r-x
o Others: 5 → r-x

6.6 Processes & prioritization

Command Description Example

ps Show running processes ps, ps aux
kill Send signal to a process kill 1234
killall Kill all processes with a given name killall firefox
nice Start process with a specified priority (niceness) nice -n 10 [Link]
renice Change priority of an already running process renice +5 -p 1234

PYQ: “Which Linux command is used to change the priority of a running process?”
Answer: renice

TVK – Telegram, YouTube

6.7 Searching, piping, redirecting

Pipe (|) – connects output of one command to input of another:

ls -l | grep ".sh"

Redirection:

Symbol Meaning Example

> Redirect stdout (overwrite file) ls > [Link]
>> Redirect stdout (append to file) echo "log" >> [Link]
2> Redirect stderr command 2> [Link]
2>&1 Send stderr to same place as stdout command > [Link] 2>&1

grep – search text:

grep "error" [Link]

grep -i "error" [Link] # case-insensitive
grep -r "main" src/ # recursive in directory

find – locate files/directories:

find . -name "*.log"

find /etc -type f -name "hosts"

which – show full path of command:

which bash
which python

7. Loops in Shell Scripting

7.1 for loop – over a list
for name in Alice Bob Charlie
do
echo "Hello $name"
done

7.2 for loop – C-style (bash specific)

for (( i=1; i<=5; i++ ))
do
echo "$i"
done

7.3 while loop

TVK – Telegram, YouTube

Used when we don’t know the number of iterations beforehand.

count=1
while [ "$count" -le 5 ]
do
echo "Count = $count"
count=$((count + 1))
done

7.4 until loop

Runs until condition becomes true (opposite of while).

count=1
until [ "$count" -gt 5 ]
do
echo "Count = $count"
count=$((count + 1))
done

7.5 break and continue

for (( i=1; i<=10; i++ ))
do
if [ "$i" -eq 5 ]; then
continue # skip 5
fi
if [ "$i" -gt 8 ]; then
break # stop loop
fi
echo "$i"
done

8. PYQ Corner – Direct Answers

1. Change priority of a running process → renice
2. Special variable for number of parameters in shell script → $#
3. Set environment variable in shell → export VAR=value
4. Display current directory path → pwd

TVK – Telegram, YouTube

9. Ultra-Short Revision Page (for last-minute glance)
• Script basics: #!/bin/bash, chmod +x file, ./file
• Arguments:
o $0 – script name
o $1..$9 – arguments
o $# – number of arguments
o $*, $@ – all arguments
• Exit status:
o $? – last command’s status
o 0 – success; non-zero – failure
o exit N – exit script
o return N – return from function
• Variables:
o Normal: name="Sanjay"
o Environment: export JAVA_HOME=/path
• Core commands (one-liners):
o pwd – current directory
o cd – change directory
o ls – list files
o mkdir – make directory
o cp, mv, rm – copy, move, remove
o chmod, chown, chgrp, sudo – permissions/ownership
o kill, killall, nice, renice – processes & priority
o grep, find, which – searching
o |, >, >>, 2> – pipeline & redirection
• Loops:
o for, while, until, break, continue

TVK – Telegram, YouTube