11 Best Linux Shell Scripting Tutorials For Beginners

Learn Linux Shell Scripting step by step and be more productive in your coding. With these best Linux Shell Scripting tutorials for beginners learn how to automate commands from standard input.

11 Best Linux Shell Scripting Tutorials For Beginners
Best Linux Shell Scripting Tutorials

Imagine having to continuously repeat one process over and over again for a long period of time – sounds pretty boring, doesn’t it? Well, a huge number of developers end up doing this when they are coding, repeating sections of their codes over and over again – especially when it comes to working with Linux.

The UNIX or Linux operating system is a powerful tool for designing other operating systems or coding apps, systems, and even websites. However, it has this little hitch – you need to use tons of commands to get the system to program. This is where developers waste much of their time, repeating monotonous tasks.

Keeping this in mind, here at Coursesity, we have curated some of the Best Linux shell scripting online courses and tutorials for beginners for the best way to learn Linux shell scripting in 2021.  

Although Linux Shell Scripting helps you become more productive in your work by interpreting and automate commands from standard input, it is just the beginning of what you need to learn to excel as a developer in 2021 as there are a lot more Linux Shell Scripting topics to learn such as:

  • Working with Commands
  • Process Management, Job Control, and Automation
  • Text Processing and Filtering in Scripts
  • Exploring Expressions and Variables
  • Neat Tricks with Shell Scripting

What would you say, if I said you could automate these tasks?

Well, with BASH (Bourne Again Shell) you can. BASH is a UNIX shell and a command language that interprets and executes commands from the standard input or a file. However, you do not always have to call commands continuously. The best part about BASH is that you can automate commands so that they can run automatically, reducing the amount of coding you have to do.

Bash scripting can help you automate routine tasks and save valuable time, whether you're a Linux user, sysadmin, or software developer. Kevin Dankwardt has written thousands of bash scripts, short and long.

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Top Linux - Shell Scripting Courses List

  1. Bash Scripting and Shell Programming Course Linux Command Line

  2. Linux Shell Programming for Beginners

  3. Linux Shell Scripting: Learning Projects for Beginners

  4. Shell Scripting: Discover How to Automate Command Line Tasks

  5. Linux: Bash Shell and Scripts

  6. Shell Scripting with Bash

  7. Complete Linux Bash Shell Scripting with Real Life Examples

  8. The Unix Workbench

  9. Linux Shell Programming for Beginners

  10. Learning Linux Command Line

  11. Linux Mastery: Mastering the Linux Command Line

1. Bash Scripting and Shell Programming Course Linux Command Line

Learn bash programming for Linux, Unix, & Mac. Learn how to write bash scripts like a pro & solve real-world problems! In this course, you will be able to create bash scripts. You will learn how to take tedious and repetitious tasks and turn them into programs that will save you time and simplify your life on Linux, Unix, or MAC systems.

  • Course rating: 4. out of 5.0 (5,707 Ratings total)
  • Duration: 2.5 Hours
  • Certificate: Certificate of completion

In this course, you will learn how to:

  • write shell scripts that can be used on Linux, Mac, and Unix operating systems.
  • automate tasks using shell scripts.
  • create complex scripts that take advantage of advanced bash shell features.

This course includes:

  • A step-by-step process of writing bash shell scripts that solve real-world problems.
  • Important things that you must do every time you create a bash script.
  • How to quickly find and fix the most common shell scripting errors.
  • How to accept input from a user and then make decisions on that input.
  • How to accept and process command line arguments.
  • What special variables are available, how to use them in your shell scripts, and when to do so.
  • A shell script creation checklist.
  • A shell script template (boilerplate). Use this format for each of your shell scripts.
  • Real-world examples of shell scripts.

This course will educate you on how to program using any shell with the techniques present in this course. As all these tactics are applicable for every shell whether you are using bash, bourne (sh), KornShell (ksh), C shell (csh), Z shell (zsh), or even the tcsh shell, however, the focus is on the bash shell and you will learn some advanced bash features.

You will be able to use these scripts on any Linux environment including Ubuntu, Debian, Linux Mint, RedHat, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Slackware, and Kali Linux. Your scripts will even run on other operating systems such as Apple's Mac OS X, Oracle's Solaris, IBM's AIX, HP's HP-UX, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD.

You can take Bash Scripting and Shell Programming Course Linux Command Line Certificate Course on Udemy.

2. Linux Shell Programming for Beginners

Learn how to automate your coding tasks with Linux shells and BASH in this UNIX & Linux shell scripting tutorial. This course teaches you how to automate tasks, write shell scripts, learn the inner workings of command history, variables, and even the echo command. You don’t even have to be from a programming background to learn with this course. All you need is a little familiarity with UNIX/Linux and have a UNIX/Linux machine (can even be virtual).

  • Course rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 (645 Ratings total)
  • Certificate: Certificate of completion

In this course, you will learn how to:

  • write well documented, modular, efficient, and complex shell scripts.
  • automate your daily routine jobs.
  • get a firm grasp of general programming concepts such as loops, commands, statements.
  • effectively write command-line processing, process management, and even manipulate command-line functions.
  • understand the basis of programming concepts that can help you learn high-level programming languages such as Java or C#.

Here, you will learn Linux shell scripting from scratch as this course starts from the basics and answers any questions you have about BASH and writing Shell scripts. It will cover topics such as what is a shell, what is a shell script, difference between an interactive shell and a shell script, customizing your shell, conditional statements, loops, and command-line options.

You can take Linux Shell Programming for Beginners Certificate Course on Edunoix.

3. Linux Shell Scripting: Learning Projects for Beginners

Learn how to shell script through project-based training (Bash Scripting, Bash Programming, Sed, Grep, and Awk)

  • Course rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 (5,925 Ratings total)
  • Duration: 11.5 Hours
  • Certificate: Certificate of completion

In this course, you will learn how to:

  • write your very own Linux shell scripts using the concepts you learned in this course.
  • name your shell scripts.
  • use the proper permissions on your shell scripts.
  • create and use variables in your scripts.
  • use shell built-in commands and operating system commands.
  • make the most out of special variables that are available to you in your scripts.
  • make decisions by using if statements and performing several different kinds of tests
  • check the exit statuses of commands and why you need to.
  • use cryptographic hash functions
  • create random data so you can do things like automatically generate strong passwords for user accounts.
  • perform the same action or set of actions over a series of data utilizing for loops, while loops, and infinite loops.
  • control all types of input and output.
  • accept standard input from a user as well as from another program.
  • redirect standard output and standard error.
  • combine standard output and standard error
  • use command pipelining
  • perform text and string manipulation.
  • tackle process command-line arguments
  • create functions and when to do so.
  • parse, analyze, and report on log files, CSV files, and other data.
  • write scripts that execute commands on other systems.

This course is project-based, which means instead of learning bits and pieces of information, you will write actual shell scripts that you can use in real-world situations.

You can take Linux Shell Scripting: Learning Projects for Beginners Certificate Course on Udemy.

4. Shell Scripting: Discover How to Automate Command Line Tasks

This course will educate you on how to program using any shell with the techniques present in this course. As all these tactics are applicable for every shell whether you are using bash, bourne (sh), KornShell (ksh), C shell (csh), Z shell (zsh), or even the tcsh shell, however, the focus is on the bash shell and you will learn some advanced bash features.

  • Course rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 (6,095 Ratings total)
  • Duration: 2.5 Hours
  • Certificate: Certificate of completion

In this course, you will learn how to:

  • write shell scripts that can be used on Linux, Mac, and Unix operating systems.
  • automate tasks using shell scripts.
  • create complex scripts that take advantage of advanced bash shell features.

This course includes:

  • Learn Linux shell scripting from scratch
  • A step-by-step process of writing bash shell scripts that solve real-world problems.
  • Important things that you must do every time you create a bash script.
  • How to quickly find and fix the most common shell scripting errors.
  • How to accept input from a user and then make decisions on that input.
  • How to accept and process command line arguments.
  • What special variables are available, how to use them in your shell scripts, and when to do so.
  • A shell script creation checklist.
  • A shell script template (boilerplate). Use this format for each of your shell scripts.
  • Real-world examples of shell scripts.

You will be able to use these scripts on any Linux environment including Ubuntu, Debian, Linux Mint, RedHat, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Slackware, and Kali Linux. Your scripts will even run on other operating systems such as Apple's Mac OS X, Oracle's Solaris, IBM's AIX, HP's HP-UX, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD.

You can take Shell Scripting: Discover How to Automate Command Line Tasks Certificate Course on Udemy.

5. Linux: Bash Shell and Scripts

Get an introduction to Linux bash scripting. Learn how to read and write Linux bash scripts, complete with local variables, functions, loops, and coprocesses, and use sed and AWK.

  • Course rating: 53,304 total enrollments
  • Duration: 2.9 Hours
  • Certificate: Certificate of completion

In this course, you will learn:

  • exploring the Bash documentation.
  • Setting the script interpreter and permissions.
  • Sourcing and aliasing with bash.
  • Displaying text with echo.
  • Using the typeset and declare commands for variables.
  • Looping.
  • Reading input.
  • Defining functions.
  • Using operators.
  • Using filters and parameter expansion.
  • Advanced bash scripting techniques.

The course teaches you how to read and write scripts, and provides a series of scripting challenges to help you test your new skills. Learn about the bash environment, local variables, functions, loops, case statements, string operations, and co-processes. Plus, learn how to use the text processing utilities sed and AWK to read and edit data in text files.

The information provided in this course is vital for Linux administration and for more Linux Shell Scripting topics to learn.

You can take Linux: Bash Shell and Scripts Certificate Course on LinkedIn.

6. Shell Scripting with Bash

Bash shell scripts allow you to automate just about any task on a UNIX system. They combine the power of all the UNIX userland utilities with a powerful scripting language. Whether you are a system administrator, a developer or a power user, shell scripts will make you more productive.

  • Course rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 (588 Ratings total)
  • Duration: 4.5 Hours
  • Certificate: Certificate of completion

In this course, you will learn:

  • all the shell scripting basics including input and output, using variables, conditional execution, writing loops, and string manipulation.

This course teaches you how to write shell scripts for automating tasks on UNIX systems.

You can take Shell Scripting with Bash Certificate Course on Pluralsight.

7. Complete Linux Bash Shell Scripting with Real Life Examples

In this course, you will learn Shell Scripting and Programming to automate your daily tedious tasks and conserve time.

  • Course rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 (1,279 Ratings total)
  • Duration: 14.5 Hours
  • Certificate: Certificate of completion

In this course, you will:

  • learn Linux shell scripting step by step.
  • be able to understand shell scripting concepts.
  • be able to write basic to advance level shell scripts.
  • understand how shell scripts become useful to automate daily system administration tasks.
  • learn how to accept input from a user and then make decisions on that input.

This course is designed for those who have some experience in Linux and want to learn or refine their Linux shell scripting skills.

You can take Complete Linux Bash Shell Scripting with Real-Life Examples Certificate Course on Udemy.

8. The Unix Workbench

This course is intended for folks who are new to programming and new to Unix-like operating systems like macOS and Linux distributions like Ubuntu. Most of the technologies discussed in this course will be accessed via a command-line interface.

  • Course rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 (1,117 Ratings total)
  • Duration: 19 Hours
  • Certificate: Certificate of completion

In this course, you will learn how to:

  • write little pieces of software in a programming language called Bash, which allows you to connect together the tools.
  • use different Unix tools for automating your tasks and conserving your time.

Command-line interfaces can seem alien at first, so this course attempts to draw parallels between using the command line and actions that you would normally take while using your mouse and keyboard.

You can take The Unix Workbench Certificate Course on Coursera.

9. Linux Shell Programming for Beginners

The course to master Bash shell scripting for Linux. This course has been designed to teach you how to use BASH to shave hours from your coding practice. Here, you will learn how to write shell scripts, learn how command history, echo command and even variables work, along with how to automate simple and complex commands.

  • Course rating: 4.3 out of 5.0 (544 Ratings total)
  • Duration: 9.5 Hours
  • Certificate: Certificate of completion

In this course, you will learn how to:

  • write professional shell scripting skills.
  • create efficient scripts for mundane tasks.
  • perform routine tasks faster.
  • understand the inner workings of the bash shell.

In the beginning, you will learn about what is BASH, what are shells, what do you  mean by shell scripts, customizing your shell, difference between a shell script and an interactive shell, command line-options, statements, and loops. Also, you will be educated on how to write well documented, modular, efficient, and complex shell scripts, automate daily routines, basic programming concepts such as loops, commands, and statements, how to effectively write command-line processing, process management, and even manipulate command-line functions.

You can take Linux Shell Programming for Beginners certificate course on Udemy.

10. Learning Linux Command Line

Find out how to use the Linux command line and Bash shell. Learn Linux commands to navigate through the file and folder structure, edit text set permissions, and install and update software on Linux machines. The course discusses the basics of working with the Linux command line using the Bash shell, focusing on practical Linux commands with examples that help you navigate through the file and folder structure, edit text, and set permissions.

  • Course rating: 75,953 total enrollments
  • Duration: 2.2 Hours
  • Certificate: Certificate of completion

In this course, you will:

  • Recognize what the characters “-h” represent in the statement “df –h/home/alice/Documents”.
  • Explain how to recall a previous command in Bash.
  • Identify what the command “ls -l” will show.
  • Recall what is needed to use the find command to look for files by name, size, and so on.
  • List the two modes file permissions can be set to.
  • Recall why many command-line tools are intended to be used in pipes with other commands.
  • Explain what the command “grep -E "[123]" report.txt” will show.
  • Identify what the “>” symbol is often used for.

It also discusses some of the common command-line tools, such as grep, awk, and sed, and command-line apps such as the nano and Vim text editors. The course wraps up with a look at how to install and update software with a package manager.

You can take Learning Linux Command Line Certificate Course on LinkedIn.

11. Linux Mastery: Mastering the Linux Command Line

In this course, you will learn the Linux command line from scratch.

  • Course rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 (10,449Ratings total)
  • Duration: 11.5 Hours
  • Certificate: Certificate of completion

In this course, you will:

  • Quickly Learn the Linux Command Line from Scratch!
  • Use Bash Scripts and Cron Scheduling Software to Automate Boring Tasks!
  • Become an Independent User of the Linux Operating System!
  • Learn how to Search for, Customise, Install and Manage Open Source Software with Package Managers!
  • Operate a Linux Computer Entirely from the Command Line!
  • Gain a Complete Understanding of Linux & fill in any existing knowledge gaps.

The course has been divided into 4 topics.  

Topic 1 - Mastering the Linux Terminal
In this section, you will learn what Linux commands are, and how they are structured so that you can get valuable insight into how working with the Linux command line works.

You will learn important concepts such as:

  • The difference between the Linux terminal and the shell
  • Command Input and Output
  • Data Redirection.
  • Connecting Linux Commands together to build Sophisticated data pipelines.

(Topic 2) Mastering the Linux File System
In this section, you will learn how to navigate the file system from the command line and perform a whole bunch of tasks with files and folders such as:

  • How to Create files and folders in Linux
  • How to Delete files and folders in Linux
  • How to Copy and paste files and folders in Linux.
  • How to Move and Rename files and folders in Linux.
  • How to Find files and Sort data in Linux.
  • How to Backup and Compress files and folders in Linux.

(Topic 3) Mastering Task Automation and Scheduling
you will cover how to write bash scripts and automate them using a special scheduling program called CRON so that you can automate the boring stuff and increase your productivity.

(Topic 4) Mastering Package Managers and Software Repositories

In this section of the course, you will gain the independence to search through this enormous body of software for cool new tools that do what you want, and learn how to install and manage that software all from the Linux command line. You will also learn how to access source code and customize programs, as well as understand the subtle differences between free and open source software.

You can take Linux Mastery: Mastering the Linux Command Line Certificate Course on Udemy.


Thank you for reading this. We hope our course curation would help you to pick the right course for the best way to learn Linux Shell Scripting. In case you want to explore more, you can take the free Linux Shell Scripting courses.

Hey! If you have made it this far then certainly you are willing to learn more and here at Coursesity, it is our duty to enlighten people with knowledge on topics they are willing to learn. Here are some more topics that we think will be interesting for you!