Advance your scripting skills with this immersive UNIX shell scripting course. Over five days, you’ll explore advanced UNIX shell scripting techniques, from AWK and sed to file handling and automation. Designed for developers and system administrators, this course builds practical expertise that directly supports on-the-job performance.
UNIX Shell Programming for Developers
Develop confident, advanced UNIX shell scripting skills
This five-day course is designed to enhance your ability to write robust, efficient UNIX shell scripts for real-world application. Covering a wide range of tools and techniques, it supports deeper understanding of scripting, automation and text processing - helping you streamline workflows, reduce manual effort and build your technical capability.
Learning objectives
- Write structured and reusable shell scripts Use variables, loops and conditional logic effectively
- Manipulate and process text using grep, sed and AWK
- Automate file management and backups
- Create menu-driven scripts with user interaction
- Schedule background tasks with crontab and at
- Build advanced AWK scripts with arrays and functions
- Incorporate robust error handling and user interrupts
What you’ll learn
Advance your UNIX shell scripting expertise with this in-depth, practical training. You’ll learn how to automate processes, manage data, handle files, and write efficient, scalable scripts using standard and advanced tools. This course blends structured theory with script-based exercises to build lasting, job-ready skills.
Shell scripting fundamentals
Start with the essentials of UNIX shell scripting to build a strong technical foundation. You’ll learn to create, edit, and execute shell scripts, apply quoting rules, and manage variables and command substitution. The course introduces control structures such as conditional statements and loop constructs, enabling you to build responsive, logic-driven scripts. You'll also handle real-time input using the read command and develop interactive scripts using structured programming techniques. This first step equips you with the core scripting practices needed to progress into more complex scripting and automation tasks.
Working with AWK, sed and text tools
Explore the core UNIX tools that give shell scripts their processing power. Learn how to use AWK for advanced data manipulation, from pattern matching and arithmetic operations to working with associative arrays and custom functions. You’ll write scripts that process large volumes of data and extract meaningful information. Sed is introduced for automated stream editing and text transformation. Grep and regular expressions provide the foundation for powerful search and replace logic. These tools are crucial for building scripts that analyse, convert, or clean up structured and unstructured text.
Automation, backup and scheduling
Automate and streamline everyday tasks using shell scripting. You’ll learn to develop scripts that manage system operations, from backing up files with tar to compressing and archiving using common utilities like gzip and bzip2. The course also covers job scheduling using cron and at, enabling timed execution of your scripts. These skills are essential for maintaining system performance and consistency without manual intervention. By the end of this section, you’ll be able to script repetitive processes and ensure they run reliably in the background, saving time and reducing human error.
Advanced scripting techniques
Take your scripting to the next level by building structured, professional-grade shell scripts. You’ll write user-defined functions, build menu-driven interfaces, and integrate signal trapping for error and interrupt handling. You’ll also explore advanced scripting topics such as working with arrays, using eval and getopts, and logging with the logger command. These practices help you write robust, maintainable scripts for complex environments. This final section reinforces best practices and prepares you to develop scripts that are scalable, adaptable, and aligned to real-world IT operational needs.
What’s included
- Five days of instructor-led training
- Virtual classroom with live trainer support
- Practical lab exercises with real-world scenarios
- Live lab access for hands-on scripting
- Post-course resources and guidance
- Certificate of attendance
Key facts
Ideal for
Developers, programmers, and system administrators who need to write shell scripts, automate processes, or manage data within UNIX or Linux environments.
Prerequisites
You should have working knowledge of the UNIX operating system, equivalent to our UNIX Introduction course. Some prior programming experience is also beneficial.
Learning experience
Our experienced trainers and interactive labs create a focused, practical environment – so you can put theory into practice from day one.
FAQs
On this course you’ll learn how to automate tasks, process data efficiently, and create powerful, reliable scripts. The hands-on approach ensures you build expertise that strengthens your technical toolkit and supports long-term career progression.
What is UNIX shell scripting?
UNIX shell scripting is the process of writing scripts using the UNIX shell to automate tasks, manage data, and interact with the operating system. It's commonly used by developers and system administrators.
Is this course suitable for UNIX beginners?
The course is not designed for absolute beginners. It assumes prior knowledge of the UNIX operating system, such as that covered in our UNIX Introduction course. If you're new to UNIX, we recommend starting there to build the essential foundation before progressing to shell scripting.
Does the course include AWK scripting?
Yes, AWK scripting is a key component of the course. You’ll progress from writing basic AWK scripts to building complex programmes using pattern matching, variables, control structures, and arithmetic functions. You’ll also work with associative and multi-dimensional arrays, user-defined functions, and learn to format output and generate reports. AWK is taught alongside other scripting tools such as sed for stream editing and grep for pattern matching - giving you a powerful set of techniques for processing and transforming text within shell scripts.
Is this course relevant for both UNIX and Linux users?
Yes. The skills taught in this course are applicable to both UNIX and Linux environments. While the syntax and tools are largely consistent across systems, the course highlights key differences where relevant. Whether you work with Linux distributions like Ubuntu or Red Hat, or traditional UNIX systems like Solaris, the scripting techniques and command-line utilities you learn will transfer directly into your daily work.
What does Advanced UNIX Shell Scripting involve?
Advanced UNIX Shell Scripting goes beyond basic command usage to cover complex scripting techniques such as building modular scripts, managing user input, handling errors, scheduling tasks, and processing data with tools like AWK and sed. This course delivers hands-on training in these areas, helping you automate processes, manage systems more efficiently, and solve real-world problems in UNIX and Linux environments.
What our customers say
“Great course. The instructor has been courteous and informative throughout. Highly recommended and will absolutely be coming back for more courses.”
Bradley, StayAhead learner
“Good structure to the course. Each technical aspect was broken down by the instructor and the theory explained with practical examples, which aided understanding and provided guidance on best practice when applying in real life scenarios.”
Ross, StayAhead learner
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