Shell Scripting Templates and Utilities

A collection of BASH utility functions and script templates used to ease the creation of portable and hardened BASH scripts with sane defaults.

Usage

There are two Script Templates located in the root level of this repository. The usage of these templates is described in detail below.

BASH Utility functions are located within the utilities/ folder.

Complex sed find/replace operations are supported with the files located in sedfiles/. Read the usage instructions.

Automated testing is provided using BATS. All tests are in the tests/ repo. A git pre-commit hook provides automated testing is located in the .hooks/ directory. Read about how to install the hook.

Bash Script Templates Usage

To create a new script, copy one of the script templates to a new file and make it executable chmod 755 [newscript].sh. Place your custom script logic within the _mainScript_ function at the top of the script.

Script Templates

There are two templates located at the root level of this repository.

template.sh - A lean template which attempts to source all the utility functions from this repository. You will need to update the path to the utilities folder sent to _sourceUtilities_ at the bottom of the script. This template will not function correctly if the utilities are not found.
template_standalone.sh - For portability, the standalone template does not assume that this repository is available. Copy and paste the individual utility functions under the ### Custom utility functions line.

Code Organization

The script templates are roughly split into three sections:

TOP: Write the main logic of your script within the _mainScript_ function. It is placed at the top of the file for easy access and editing. However, it is invoked at the end of the script after options are parsed and functions are sourced.
MIDDLE: Functions and default variable settings are located just below _mainScript_.
BOTTOM: Script initialization (BASH options, traps, call to _mainScript_, etc.) is at the bottom of the template

Default Options

These default options and global variables are included in the templates and used throughout the utility functions. CLI flags to set/unset them are:

-h, --help: Prints the contents of the _usage_ function. Edit the text in that function to provide help
--logfile [FILE] Full PATH to logfile. (Default is ${HOME}/logs/$(basename "$0").log)
loglevel [LEVEL]: Log level of the script. One of: FATAL, ERROR, WARN, INFO, DEBUG, ALL, OFF (Default is 'ERROR')
-n, --dryrun: Dryrun, sets $DRYRUN to true allowing you to write functions that will work non-destructively using the _execute_ function
-q, --quiet: Runs in quiet mode, suppressing all output to stdout. Will still write to log files
-v, --verbose: Sets $VERBOSE to true and prints all debug messages to stdout
--force: If using the _seekConfirmation_ utility function, this skips all user interaction. Implied Yes to all confirmations.

You can add custom script options and flags to the _parseOptions_ function.

Script Initialization

The bottom of the script template file contains a block which initializes the script. Comment, uncomment, or change the settings here for your needs

trap '_trapCleanup_ ${LINENO} ${BASH_LINENO} "${BASH_COMMAND}" "${FUNCNAME[*]}" "${0}" "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}"' EXIT INT TERM SIGINT SIGQUIT SIGTERM ERR

# Trap errors in subshells and functions
set -o errtrace

# Exit on error. Append '||true' if you expect an error
set -o errexit

# Use last non-zero exit code in a pipeline
set -o pipefail

# Confirm we have BASH greater than v4
[ "${BASH_VERSINFO:-0}" -ge 4 ] || {
    printf "%s\n" "ERROR: BASH_VERSINFO is '${BASH_VERSINFO:-0}'.  This script requires BASH v4 or greater."
    exit 1
}

# Make `for f in *.txt` work when `*.txt` matches zero files
shopt -s nullglob globstar

# Set IFS to preferred implementation
IFS=$' \n\t'

# Run in debug mode
# set -o xtrace

# Source utility functions
_sourceUtilities_

# Initialize color constants
_setColors_

# Disallow expansion of unset variables
set -o nounset

# Force arguments when invoking the script
# [[ $# -eq 0 ]] && _parseOptions_ "-h"

# Parse arguments passed to script
_parseOptions_ "$@"

# Create a temp directory '$TMP_DIR'
# _makeTempDir_ "$(basename "$0")"

# Acquire script lock
# _acquireScriptLock_

# Source GNU utilities for use on MacOS
# _useGNUUtils_

# Run the main logic script
_mainScript_

# Exit cleanly
_safeExit_

Utility Functions

The files within utilities/ contain BASH functions which can be used in your scripts. Each included function includes detailed usage information. Read the inline comments within the code for detailed usage instructions.

Including Utility Functions

Within the utilities folder are many BASH functions meant to ease development of more complicated scripts. These can be included in the template in two ways.

1. Copy and paste into template_standalone.sh

You can copy any complete function from the Utilities and place it into your script. Copy it beneath the ### Custom utility functions line. Scripts created this way are fully portable among systems

2. Source all the utility files by using template.sh

template.sh contains a function to source all the utility files into the script. IMPORTANT: You will need to update the paths within the _sourceUtilities_ function to ensure your script can find this repository.

alerts.bash

_columns_ Prints a two column output from a key/value pair
-_printFuncStack_ Prints the function stack in use. Used for debugging, and error reporting
_alert_ Performs alerting functions including writing to a log file and printing to screen
_centerOutput_ Prints text in the center of the terminal window
_setColors_ Sets color constants for alerting (Note: Colors default to a dark theme.)

Basic alerting, logging, and setting color functions (included in scriptTemplate.sh by default). Print messages to stdout and to a user specified logfile using the following functions.

debug "some text"     # Printed only when in verbose (-v) mode
info "some text"      # Basic informational messages
notice "some text"    # Messages which should be read. Brighter than 'info'
warning "some text"   # Non-critical warnings
error "some text"     # Prints errors and the function stack but does not stop the script.
fatal "some text"     # Fatal errors. Exits the script
success "some text"   # Prints a success message
header "some text"    # Prints a header element
dryrun "some text"    # Prints commands that would be run if not in dry run (-n) mode

The following global variables must be set for the alert functions to work

$DEBUG - If true, prints debug level alerts to stdout. (Default: false)
$DRYRUN - If true does not eval commands passed to _execute_ function. (Default: false)
$LOGFILE - Path to a log file
$LOGLEVEL - One of: FATAL, ERROR, WARN, INFO, DEBUG, ALL, OFF (Default: ERROR)
$QUIET - If true, prints to log file but not stdout. (Default: false)

arrays.bash

Utility functions for working with arrays.

_dedupeArray_ Removes duplicate array elements
_forEachDo_ Iterates over elements and passes each to a function
_forEachFilter_ Iterates over elements, returning only those that are validated by a function
_forEachFind_ Iterates over elements, returning the first value that is validated by a function
_forEachReject_ Iterates over elements, returning only those that are NOT validated by a function
_forEachValidate_ Iterates over elements and passes each to a function for validation
_inArray_ Determine if a value is in an array
_isEmptyArray_ Checks if an array is empty
_joinArray_ Joins items together with a user specified separator
_mergeArrays_ Merges the values of two arrays together
_randomArrayElement_ Selects a random item from an array
_reverseSortArray_ Sorts an array from highest to lowest
_setdiff_ Return items that exist in ARRAY1 that are do not exist in ARRAY2
_sortArray_ Sorts an array from lowest to highest

checks.bash

Functions for validating common use-cases

_commandExists_ Check if a command or binary exists in the PATH
_functionExists_ Tests if a function is available in current scope
_isInternetAvailable_ Checks if Internet connections are possible
_isAlpha_ Validate that a given variable contains only alphabetic characters
_isAlphaDash_ Validate that a given variable contains only alpha-numeric characters, as well as dashes and underscores
_isAlphaNum_ Validate that a given variable contains only alpha-numeric characters
_isDir_ Validate that a given input points to a valid directory
_isEmail_ Validates that an input is a valid email address
_isFQDN_ Determines if a given input is a fully qualified domain name
_isFile_ Validate that a given input points to a valid file
_isIPv4_ Validates that an input is a valid IPv4 address
_isIPv6_ Validates that an input is a valid IPv6 address
_isNum_ Validate that a given variable contains only numeric characters
_isTerminal_ Checks if script is run in an interactive terminal
_rootAvailable_ Validate we have superuser access as root (via sudo if requested)
_varIsEmpty_ Checks if a given variable is empty or null
_varIsFalse_ Checks if a given variable is false
_varIsTrue_ Checks if a given variable is true

dates.bash

Functions for working with dates and time.

_convertToUnixTimestamp_ Converts a date to unix timestamp
_countdown_ Sleep for a specified amount of time
_dateUnixTimestamp_ Current time in unix timestamp
_formatDate_ Reformats dates into user specified formats
_fromSeconds_ Convert seconds to HH:MM:SS
_monthToNumber_ Convert a month name to a number
_numberToMonth_ Convert a month number to its name
_parseDate_ Takes a string as input and attempts to find a date within it to parse into component parts (day, month, year)
_readableUnixTimestamp_ Format unix timestamp to human readable format
_toSeconds_ Converts HH:MM:SS to seconds

debug.bash

Functions to aid in debugging BASH scripts

_pauseScript_ Pause a script at any point and continue after user input
_printAnsi_ Helps debug ansi escape sequence in text by displaying the escape codes
_printArray_ Prints the content of array as key value pairs for easier debugging

files.bash

Functions for working with files.

_backupFile_ Creates a backup of a specified file with .bak extension or optionally to a specified directory.
_decryptFile_ Decrypts a file with openssl
_encryptFile_ Encrypts a file with openssl
_extractArchive_ Extract a compressed file
_fileBasename_ Gets the basename of a file from a file name
_fileContains_ Tests whether a file contains a given pattern
_filePath_ Gets the absolute path to a file
_fileExtension_ Gets the extension of a file
_fileName_ Prints a filename from a path
_json2yaml_ Convert JSON to YAML uses python
_listFiles_ Find files in a directory. Use either glob or regex.
_makeSymlink_ Creates a symlink and backs up a file which may be overwritten by the new symlink. If the exact same symlink already exists, nothing is done.
_parseYAML_ Convert a YAML file into BASH variables for use in a shell script
_printFileBetween_ Prints block of text in a file between two regex patterns
_readFile_ Prints each line of a file
_sourceFile_ Source a file into a script
_createUniqueFilename_ Ensure a file to be created has a unique filename to avoid overwriting other files
_yaml2json_ Convert a YAML file to JSON with python

macOS.bash

Functions useful when writing scripts to be run on macOS

_guiInput_ Ask for user input using a Mac dialog box
_haveScriptableFinder_ Determine whether we can script the Finder or not
_homebrewPath_ Adds Homebrew bin directory to PATH
_useGNUUtils_ Add GNU utilities to PATH to allow consistent use of sed/grep/tar/etc. on MacOS

misc.bash

Miscellaneous functions

_acquireScriptLock_ Acquire script lock to prevent running the same script a second time before the first instance exits
_detectLinuxDistro_ Detects the host computer's distribution of Linux
_detectMacOSVersion_ Detects the host computer's version of macOS
_detectOS_ Detect the the host computer's operating system
_endspin_ Clears output from the spinner
_execute_ Executes commands with safety and logging options. Respects DRYRUN and VERBOSE flags.
_findBaseDir_ Locates the real directory of the script being run. Similar to GNU readlink -n
_generateUUID_ Generates a unique UUID
_progressBar_ Prints a progress bar within a for/while loop
_runAsRoot_ Run the requested command as root (via sudo if requested)
_seekConfirmation_ Seek user input for yes/no question
_spinner_ Creates a spinner within a for/while loop.
_trapCleanup_ Cleans up after a trapped error.

services.bash

Functions to work with external services

_haveInternet_ Tests to see if there is an active Internet connection
_httpStatus_ Report the HTTP status of a specified URL
_pushover_ Sends a notification via Pushover (Requires API keys)

strings.bash

Functions for string manipulation

_cleanString_ Cleans a string of text
_decodeHTML_ Decode HTML characters with sed. (Requires sed file)
_decodeURL_ Decode a URL encoded string
_encodeHTML_ Encode HTML characters with sed (Requires sed file)
_encodeURL_ URL encode a string
_escapeString_ Escapes a string by adding \ before special chars
_lower_ Convert a string to lowercase
_ltrim_ Removes all leading whitespace (from the left)
_regexCapture_ Use regex to validate and parse strings
_rtrim_ Removes all leading whitespace (from the right)
_splitString_ Split a string based on a given delimeter
_stringContains_ Tests whether a string matches a substring
_stringRegex_ Tests whether a string matches a regex pattern
_stripANSI_ Strips ANSI escape sequences from text
_stripStopwords_ Removes common stopwords from a string using a list of sed replacements located in an external file.
_trim_ Removes all leading/trailing whitespace
_upper_ Convert a string to uppercase

template_utils.bash

Functions required to allow the script template and alert functions to be used

_makeTempDir_ Creates a temp directory to house temporary files
_safeExit_ Cleans up temporary files before exiting a script
_setPATH_ Add directories to $PATH so script can find executables

Coding conventions

Function names use camel case surrounded by underscores: _nameOfFunction_
Local variable names use camel case with a starting underscore: _localVariable
Global variables are in ALL_CAPS with underscores seperating words
Exceptions to the variable an function naming rules are made for alerting functions and colors to ease my speed of programming. (Breaking years of habits is hard...) I.e. notice "Some log item: ${blue}blue text${reset} Where notice is a function and $blue and $reset are global variables but are lowercase.
Variables are always surrounded by quotes and brackets "${1}" (Overly verbose true, but a safe practice)
Formatting is provided by shfmt using 4 spaces for indentation
All scripts and functions are fully Shellcheck compliant
Where possible, I follow defensive BASH programming principles.

A Note on Code Reuse and Prior Art

I compiled these scripting utilities over many years without having an intention to make them public. As a novice programmer, I have Googled, GitHubbed, and StackExchanged a path to solve my own scripting needs. I often lift a function whole-cloth from a GitHub repo don't keep track of its original location. I have done my best within these files to recreate my footsteps and give credit to the original creators of the code when possible. Unfortunately, I fear that I missed as many as I found. My goal in making this repository public is not to take credit for the code written by others. If you recognize something that I didn't credit, please let me know.

License

MIT

SckyzO/shell-scripts