How to make a script executable in Linux?

Making a Script Executable in Linux

In the Linux operating system, scripts are text files that contain a series of commands that can be executed by the system. To make a script executable, you need to grant the necessary permissions to the file. Here's how you can do it:

Step 1: Create a Script File

First, you need to create a script file. You can use a text editor like Nano, Vim, or Gedit to create the file. For example, let's create a script file called my_script.sh:

#!/bin/bash
echo "Hello, World!"

The first line #!/bin/bash is called the "shebang" and it tells the system which interpreter to use to run the script.

Step 2: Make the Script Executable

To make the script executable, you need to use the chmod command, which stands for "change mode." The chmod command allows you to modify the permissions of a file or directory.

The basic syntax for the chmod command is:

chmod <permissions> <file_name>

To make the my_script.sh file executable, you can use the following command:

chmod +x my_script.sh

The +x option adds the execute permission to the file.

You can verify the permissions of the file using the ls -l command:

$ ls -l my_script.sh
-rwxr-xr-x 1 user group 30 Apr 12 12:34 my_script.sh

The rwxr-xr-x permissions indicate that the owner (user) has read, write, and execute permissions, while the group and others have read and execute permissions.

Step 3: Run the Script

Now that the script is executable, you can run it by typing the following command in the terminal:

./my_script.sh

The ./ before the script name tells the system to look for the script in the current directory.

Alternatively, you can also run the script by typing the script name directly, if the script's directory is in your system's PATH environment variable:

my_script.sh

This way, the system will be able to find the script and execute it.

Here's a Mermaid diagram that summarizes the steps to make a script executable in Linux:

Making scripts executable is a fundamental skill in Linux system administration and automation. By following these steps, you can create and run your own custom scripts to automate various tasks and streamline your workflow.