Lab 6 Exploring the Bash Shell
Sequence 1: Directory and file organization
1. Log in as user student with the password student.
2. [student@stationX ~]$ pwd
/home/student
3. [student@stationX ~]$ touch {report,memo,graph}_{sep,oct,nov,dec}_{a,b,c}_{1,2,3}
4. Use the ls command to examine the results of the last command. You should find that it
created 108 new, empty files
5. [student@stationX ~]$ mkdir a_reports
[student@stationX ~]$ mkdir september october november december
Again, use ls to examine your work.
6. [student@stationX ~]$ cd a_reports
[student@stationX a_reports]$ mkdir one two three
ls
7. [student@stationX a_reports]$ cd
[student@stationX ~]$ ls -l *dec_b_?
[student@stationX ~]$ mv graph_dec_b_1 december/
[student@stationX ~]$ mv *dec_b_? december/
[student@stationX ~]$ ls -l december/
8. [student@stationX ~]$ mv *nov_b_? november/
[student@stationX ~]$ mv *oct_b_? october/
[student@stationX ~]$ mv *sep_b_? september/
9. [student@stationX ~]$ cd a_reports
[student@stationX a_reports]$ mv ~/*_a_1 one/
[student@stationX a_reports]$ cd one
[student@stationX one]$ ls *sep*
[student@stationX one]$ rm *sep*
[student@stationX one]$ ls
10. [student@stationX one]$ pwd
/home/student/a_reports/one
[student@stationX one]$ ls /home/student/*a_2*
[student@stationX one]$ mv /home/student/*a_2* /home/student/a_reports/two/
[student@stationX one]$ ls ../../*a_3*
[student@stationX one]$ mv ../../*a_3* ../three/
11. [student@stationX one]$ cd
ls
12. [student@stationX ~]$ mkdir /tmp/archive
[student@stationX ~]$ cp report*[12] /tmp/archive/
[student@stationX ~]$ cp -i report_dec* /tmp/archive/
cp: overwrite `/tmp/archive/report_dec_c_1'? n
cp: overwrite `/tmp/archive/report_dec_c_2'? n
13. [student@stationX ~]$ ls *c*
[student@stationX ~]$ ls -Fd *c*
14. [student@stationX ~]$ ls *c_[1-3]
[student@stationX ~]$ rm *c_[1-3]
[student@stationX ~]$ ls
Sequence 2: Automating tasks with shell scripts
1. Consider the command:
cp -av /etc/sysconfig ~/backups/sysconfig-yyyymmdd
2. man date
/format
date '+%Y%m%d'
3. [root@stationX ~]# mkdir ~/bin/
4. Use nano or vi, ~/bin/backupsysconfig.sh
#!/bin/bash
# This script creates a backup of /etc/sysconfig
# into a datestamped subdirectory of ~/backups/
5. add a line
cp -av /etc/sysconfig ~/backups/sysconfig-$(date '+%Y%m%d')
6. Finally, add a line
echo "Backup of /etc/sysconfig completed at: $(date)"
7. Save the file.
#!/bin/bash
# This script creates a backup of /etc/sysconfig
# into a datestamped subdirectory of ~/backups/
cp -av /etc/sysconfig ~/backups/sysconfig-$(date '+%Y%m%d')
echo "Backup of /etc/sysconfig completed at: $(date)"
8. remove today's datestamp
[root@stationX ~]# rm -rf ~/backups/sysconfig-$(date '+%Y%m%d')
9. [root@stationX ~]# chmod u+x ~/bin/backup-sysconfig.sh
10. [root@stationX ~]# ~/bin/backup-sysconfig.sh
11. If you have problems, double-check your script and try using bash -x in your shbang for
diagnostic output.
