Bash Scripting for Everyday Automation

Build a read-only file inventory that handles awkward filenames, records byte counts and hashes, and refuses to overwrite an existing report. Then break it deliberately and show which independent tests catch the defect. This is an automation course, not a collection of terminal tricks: the deliverable includes a defined population, explicit failure behavior and evidence a colleague can review.

Use Bash 4 or later on Linux with GNU coreutils. The validation environment uses Bash 5.2. The commands are not a promise of compatibility with macOS utilities, PowerShell or a POSIX-only shell. Linux Foundations is useful preparation; you should understand directories, a command's exit status and standard output versus diagnostic output. Work in a new local directory with synthetic files. No administrator account, production data or network access is required.

The project inventories visible top-level files ending in .txt. It does not recursively search, include hidden files, measure filesystem allocation or establish that files remained unchanged during collection. You will learn why those limits must appear beside the result instead of being buried in an installation note.

Four chapters, with practical work

1. Predict what the shell passes to a command
2. Define a report that cannot quietly lie
3. Build, trace and inspect the complete inventory
4. Prove the collector's limits and extend it deliberately

Applied capability and learning route

Process filenames and command failures safely in a bounded local script.

Follow the lessons in order: establish the model, trace the supplied evidence, attempt the case, compare the worked solution, and complete the changed-condition project. The target is intermediate reasoning within this stated scope, not mastery of the entire profession or product. If a prerequisite is unfamiliar, pause and use the linked foundational teaching before attempting the project.

All teaching, explained answers and core synthetic practice are free. Some operational labs require separately available software, a licensed test tenant or an authorized lab; offline completion does not claim hands-on product proficiency.

How to complete this course

Study the worked examples, attempt the exercises before opening solutions, and submit your own project notes. Completion records are self-reported; practical competence requires the stated verification.