Ubuntu Unleashed 2013 Edition: Covering 12.10 and 13.04, Eighth Edition

Using a Simple Script to Automate Tasks

You could use a simple script, for example, to examine your system log for certain keywords. If the script is run via your system’s scheduling table, /etc/crontab, it can help automate security monitoring. By combining the output capabilities of existing Linux commands with the language facilities of the shell, you can quickly build a useful script to perform a task normally requiring a number of command lines. For example, you can create a short script, named greplog, like this:

#!/bin/sh#    name:  greplog#      use:  mail grep of designated log using keyword# version:  v.01 08aug02##  author: bb## usage: greplog [keyword] [logpathname]##  bugs: does not check for correct number of arguments# build report ...