Mastering Ubuntu Server - Second Edition

Learning Advanced Shell Techniques

Throughout this book so far, we've been using the command line quite heavily. We've installed packages, created users, edited configuration files, and more using the shell. This time around, we dedicate an entire chapter to the shell so we can become more efficient with it. Here, we'll take what we already know and add some useful time saving tips, some information on looping, variables, and we'll even look into writing scripts.

In this chapter, we will cover:

• Understanding the Linux shell
• Understanding Bash history
• Learning some useful command-line tricks
• Redirecting output
• Understanding variables
• Writing simple scripts
• Putting it all together: Writing an rsync backup script