Shell Scripting for DevOps Engineers¶

Duration: 6–8 weeks (≈ 30–45 hours contact time)

Practical Bash for Linux administration, cloud automation, DevOps, and Platform Engineering — real-world automation, not academic scripting.

Course status

Track ready — 18 modules · 18 tutorials, labs, quiz, cheat sheet, interview prep, and projects. Start with Shell Fundamentals — Bash vs sh and Execution.

1. Course overview¶

Purpose¶

Automate repetitive operational tasks, ship production-ready shell scripts, and troubleshoot Linux systems efficiently.

Target roles¶

Linux Administrator · DevOps · Cloud · Platform · SRE · DevSecOps · Infrastructure Engineer

Prerequisites¶

Linux Fundamentals (Modules 1–4 recommended)
Bash 4.2+ on Linux (WSL2/VM/cloud)

Capstone outcomes¶

Write production-quality Bash · automate Linux admin · build reusable tools · debug efficiently · process JSON/YAML · schedule jobs · secure scripts · support DevOps/Platform workflows.

Certification mapping (light)¶

Theme	RHCSA/LFCS	RHCE/LFCE	Modules
Shell basics / scripting	●	○	1–7
Text / files	●	○	9–10
Processes / services	●	●	11–12
Networking / SSH	●	●	13
Scheduling	●	●	15
Hardening / production	○	●	16–18

2. Modules and tutorials¶

Module 1 — Shell Fundamentals¶

#	Tutorial	Level	Time
1	Shell Fundamentals — Bash vs sh and Execution	Beginner	45 min

Topics: What is a Shell · Bash vs sh · Shell Execution · Interactive vs Non-interactive · Login Shell · Environment Variables

Module 2 — Writing Your First Script¶

#	Tutorial	Level	Time
2	Writing Your First Script	Beginner	45 min

Topics: Shebang · Executable Files · Running Scripts · Exit Codes · Comments · Script Structure

Module 3 — Variables¶

#	Tutorial	Level	Time
3	Variables, Quoting, and Arithmetic	Beginner	50 min

Topics: Variables · Constants · Environment Variables · Command Substitution · Arithmetic · Quoting Rules

Module 4 — Input & Output¶

#	Tutorial	Level	Time
4	Input, Output, Redirection, and Pipes	Beginner	50 min

Topics: echo · printf · read · stdin · stdout · stderr · Redirection · Pipes

Module 5 — Control Flow¶

#	Tutorial	Level	Time
5	Control Flow — Conditionals	Intermediate	50 min

Topics: if · elif · else · case · test · [[ ]] · Logical Operators

Module 6 — Loops¶

#	Tutorial	Level	Time
6	Loops — for, while, until	Intermediate	50 min

Topics: for · while · until · break · continue · Nested Loops

Module 7 — Functions¶

#	Tutorial	Level	Time
7	Functions, Parameters, and Locals	Intermediate	50 min

Topics: Function Declaration · Parameters · Return Values · Local Variables · Reusable Functions

Module 8 — Arrays & Strings¶

#	Tutorial	Level	Time
8	Arrays and String Manipulation	Intermediate	50 min

Topics: Indexed Arrays · Associative Arrays · String Manipulation · Pattern Matching

Module 9 — File Operations¶

#	Tutorial	Level	Time
9	File Operations in Shell	Intermediate	50 min

Topics: Reading Files · Writing Files · Temporary Files · File Tests · Directory Operations

Module 10 — Text Processing¶

#	Tutorial	Level	Time
10	Text Processing in Shell Scripts	Intermediate	55 min

Topics: grep · sed · awk · cut · tr · sort · uniq · paste · xargs

Module 11 — Process Automation¶

#	Tutorial	Level	Time
11	Process Automation — Signals and Traps	Intermediate	55 min

Topics: ps · kill · pkill · nohup · jobs · wait · Signals · Trap

Module 12 — Linux Administration¶

#	Tutorial	Level	Time
12	Linux Admin Automation	Intermediate	55 min

Topics: User Management · Package Management · Service Management · Log Rotation · Disk Usage · Backup Automation

Module 13 — Networking Automation¶

#	Tutorial	Level	Time
13	Networking Automation with Shell	Intermediate	55 min

Topics: ping · curl · wget · nc · dig · SSH · SCP · rsync

Module 14 — JSON & YAML¶

#	Tutorial	Level	Time
14	JSON and YAML with jq and yq	Intermediate	50 min

Topics: jq · yq · Parsing JSON · Parsing YAML · Configuration Files

Module 15 — Scheduling¶

#	Tutorial	Level	Time
15	Scheduling — cron, at, and Timers	Intermediate	50 min

Topics: cron · crontab · at · systemd Timers

Module 16 — Error Handling¶

#	Tutorial	Level	Time
16	Error Handling, Logging, and Debugging	Advanced	55 min

Topics: Exit Codes · Trap · Defensive Programming · Logging · Debugging

Module 17 — Production Shell Scripting¶

#	Tutorial	Level	Time
17	Production Shell Scripting	Advanced	60 min

Topics: ShellCheck · Idempotent Scripts · Secure Scripting · Logging · Retry Logic · Lock Files · Configuration Management

Module 18 — Troubleshooting¶

#	Tutorial	Level	Time
18	Troubleshooting Shell Scripts	Advanced	55 min

Topics: Debugging Bash · Common Errors · Permission Problems · Cron Issues · Variable Expansion Problems · Performance Optimisation

3. Practice¶

Labs¶

Browse Labs → Shell Scripting in the sidebar, or:

Lab	Focus
Create Your First Script	First script
User Management Script	Users
Automate Software Installation	Packages
Backup Utility	Backups
Rotate Logs	logrotate-style
Monitor Disk Usage	Disk
Monitor CPU & Memory	Metrics
Service Health Checker	systemd
SSL Certificate Monitor	TLS expiry
Parse JSON with jq	jq
Parse YAML with yq	yq
Automate SSH Tasks	SSH
Deployment Script	Deploy
Linux Operations Toolkit	Toolkit
Shell Ops Script Hardening	Hardening

Projects¶

Level	Project
Beginner	Linux Automation Scripts
Intermediate	Linux Administration Toolkit
Advanced	Production Operations Toolkit
Capstone	Production Shell Automation Framework

Assessment & reference¶

Quiz: Shell Scripting for DevOps Fundamentals (40 Q)
Cheat sheet · Interview prep

Start here¶

Shell Fundamentals — Bash vs sh and Execution
Use set -euo pipefail from your first real script onward
After Module 14–17, continue to Python for DevOps for APIs and packaged CLIs