Functions allow developers to reuse code, reduce the amount of code they need to write, and improve their ability to maintain their scripts. With the use of variables and parameters, functions can be written once and reused to handle dynamic data in your scripts.

In this lab, you will utilize functions, parameters, and variables in a shell script. The commands used in this lab have are covered in the Functions in Scripts course. References to the specific lessons will be provided throughout the lab steps.

The expected outputs for each lab step are provided as comments in the lab script file.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this lab, you will be able to:

• Create a function in a shell script
• Access the positional parameters passed into a function
• Define global and local variables

Intended Audience

• Those beginning to work with Linux
• Those looking to gain experience with basic shell scripting
• Software Engineers
• DevOps Engineers

Prerequisites

You should be familiar with the following shell scripting features before attempting this lab:

• Command Exit Statuses
• Conditional Statements (if/else)
• Logical Operators (&&/||)
• Shell Variables
• Vim, Nano, or Emacs

 

Refer to the following courses to fulfill the prerequisite:

• Shell Scripting, Succinctly
• Functions in Scripts