linux-bash

oriolrius's avatarfrom oriolrius

Expert assistance with Linux bash commands, shell scripting, system administration, file operations, and command-line utilities. Use this when working with bash scripts, Linux system operations, or command-line tasks.

⭐1stars🔀1forks📁View on GitHub🕐Updated Dec 4, 2025
[IT Helpdesk and Runbooks]

When & Why to Use This Skill

This Claude skill provides expert-level guidance for Linux Bash operations, shell scripting, and system administration. It empowers users to master command-line utilities, automate complex IT workflows, and manage system resources efficiently. By offering best practices for script safety and error handling, it serves as a comprehensive resource for building reliable automation and performing advanced file and process management tasks.

Use Cases

  • Automating System Maintenance: Creating robust shell scripts for scheduled backups, log rotation, and automated cleanup of temporary system files.
  • System Monitoring and Troubleshooting: Utilizing commands like top, htop, and ps to identify resource bottlenecks and manage running processes in real-time.
  • Advanced Text Processing: Leveraging sed, awk, and grep to parse large log files, extract specific data points, and perform bulk text replacements.
  • Environment Configuration: Managing file permissions, ownership, and directory structures to ensure secure and organized system environments.
  • DevOps Pipeline Scripting: Writing 'set -euo pipefail' compliant scripts to automate deployment steps and ensure CI/CD pipeline reliability.
nameLinux Bash
descriptionExpert assistance with Linux bash commands, shell scripting, system administration, file operations, and command-line utilities. Use this when working with bash scripts, Linux system operations, or command-line tasks.

Linux Bash

Expert guidance for Linux bash operations, scripting, and system administration.

Core Commands

File Operations

  • ls -lah - List files with details, including hidden
  • find /path -name "pattern" - Find files by name
  • grep -r "pattern" /path - Recursive text search
  • chmod +x file - Make file executable
  • chown user:group file - Change ownership
  • tar -czf archive.tar.gz dir/ - Create compressed archive
  • tar -xzf archive.tar.gz - Extract archive

Process Management

  • ps aux | grep process - Find running processes
  • top / htop - Monitor system resources
  • kill -9 PID - Force kill process
  • nohup command & - Run command in background
  • jobs - List background jobs
  • fg %1 - Bring job to foreground

System Information

  • df -h - Disk usage human-readable
  • du -sh dir/ - Directory size
  • free -h - Memory usage
  • uname -a - System information
  • lsb_release -a - Distribution info

Text Processing

  • cat file | head -n 10 - First 10 lines
  • tail -f log.txt - Follow log file
  • sed 's/old/new/g' file - Replace text
  • awk '{print $1}' file - Print first column
  • sort file | uniq - Remove duplicates

Shell Scripting Best Practices

Script Template

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail  # Exit on error, undefined vars, pipe failures

# Script description
readonly SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"

main() {
    # Your logic here
    echo "Hello, World!"
}

main "$@"

Error Handling

# Check command success
if ! command -v tool &> /dev/null; then
    echo "Error: tool not found" >&2
    exit 1
fi

# Trap errors
trap 'echo "Error on line $LINENO"' ERR

Variables

# Constants (uppercase)
readonly CONFIG_FILE="/etc/app.conf"

# Variables (lowercase)
user_input="$1"

# Arrays
files=("file1.txt" "file2.txt")
for file in "${files[@]}"; do
    echo "$file"
done

Common Patterns

Check if file exists

if [[ -f "file.txt" ]]; then
    echo "File exists"
fi

Loop through files

for file in *.txt; do
    echo "Processing $file"
done

Read user input

read -p "Enter value: " user_value

Function definition

my_function() {
    local arg1="$1"
    echo "Received: $arg1"
}

Tips

  1. Quote variables: Always use "$variable" to prevent word splitting
  2. Use [[ ]] for tests: More features than [ ]
  3. Shellcheck: Use shellcheck script.sh to validate scripts
  4. Exit codes: Use $? to check last command status
  5. Debugging: Use set -x to trace execution

Safety First

  • Always test scripts in safe environment first
  • Use set -e to exit on errors
  • Validate input parameters
  • Quote file paths to handle spaces
  • Use absolute paths when possible