Your Complete Solution to Shell Scripting Interviews in 2023

Linux has started to expand its market rapidly since the past few years and Shell Scripting in Linux is one of the Top 10 occurring IT job-requirements. So, we thought of making your job easier by making an ensemble of the most commonly asked Shell Scripting Interview Questions which will get you ready for any job interview that you wish to appear.

The questions have been segregated into 3 parts;

• • Interview Questions for Beginners
  • Interview Questions for the Intermediate
  • Interview Questions for the Experienced

Interview Questions for Beginners

Q1. What is Shell?

The Shell is a Command Line Interpreter. It translates commands entered by the user and converts them into a language that is understood by the Kernel. The shell interprets a command typed in at the terminal, and calls the program that you want. 

Q2. What is a Shell Script? Can you name some of its advantages? 

A shell script is a command-containing text-file that contains commands in order of their execution. Typical operations performed by shell scripts include printing text, file manipulation, and program execution.

Following are the two main advantages of shell scripting:

• It facilitates developing your own custom OS with relevant features which best suit your needs.
• It facilitates designing software applications according to their respective platforms.

Q3. What are the different types of variables used in Shell Script?

 A shell script has two types of variables :

• System-defined variables are created/defined by the Operating System(Linux) itself. These variables are generally defined in Capital Letters and can be viewed by “set” command.
• User-defined variables are created or defined by system users and the values of variables can be viewed by using the command “echo”.

Q4. What are the different types of commonly used shells on a typical Linux system?

There are primarily two kinds of shells in Linux OS, namely, Bourne Shell and C-Shell. Examples of derivative from each are as follows;

• Bourne Shell: Bourne Shell, Bourne-Again Shell, Korn Shell, POSIX Shell.
• C-Shell: C-Shell, TENEX C-Shell, Z-Shell

Q5. How do you create a shortcut in Linux?

This can be done with the help of links present in Linux OS.

Hard Link: Hard links are linked to the inode of the file and have to be on the same file system as of the file. Deleting the original file does not affect the hard link.

Soft Link: Soft links are linked to the file name and can reside on a different file system as well. Deleting the original file makes the soft link inactive.

Q6. Tell something about the Super Block in Shell scripting?

A Super Block is essentially a program that contains a record of specific file systems.

Characteristics such as the block size, the empty and the filled blocks and their respective counts, the size and location of the inode tables, the disk block map, and usage information, and the size of the block groups are available in a superblock.

Q7. What is GUI scripting?

GUI is used for controlling a computer and its applications. GUI scripting supports different applications. It mostly depends on the operating system.

Q8. What are the various stages of a Linux process it passes through?

A Linux process generally passes through four stages:

• Waiting: The Linux process waits for the resource.
• Running: The Linux process is currently being executed.
• Stopped: The Linux process is stopped after successful execution.
• Zombie: The process has stopped but is still active in the process table.

Q9. What is the difference between break and continue commands?

• Break: It is a simple way to escape out of a loop in progress. We can use the break command to exit out from any loop, including while and until loops.
• Continue: It causes the present iteration of the loop to exit, instead of the entire loop.

Q10. What is the significance of the Shebang line in Shell Scripting?

The Shebang line is present at the top of the script,e.g. #!/bin/sh. It simply provides information regarding the location where the engine is placed. The engine is the one that executes the script. 

Q11. How to pass an argument to a script?

#!/bin/sh
ct $1

 question 11 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka 

Q12. How to use arguments in a Script?

#!/bin/sh
cp $1 $2

 question 12 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka 

Q13. How to calculate the number of passed arguments?

#!/bin/sh
echo "Number of Parameters passed:$#"

question 13 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka 

Q14. How to get script name inside a script?

!/bin/sh
echo "Script Name:$0"

question 14 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Q15. How to check if the previous command was run successfully?

#!/bin/sh
var=$?
if var=0
then
echo "Script was Run successfully"

else
echo "Script was unsuccessful"
fi

question 15 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Q16. How to get the last line from a file using just the terminal?

tail -1 <filename>

Q17. How to get the first line from a file using just the terminal?

head -1 <filename>

Q18. How to get the 3rd element/column from each line from a file?

#!/bin/sh
awk '{print $3}' $1

question 18 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Q19. How to write a function?

#!/bin/sh

function example {
echo "Hello Learner"
}

Q20. Write down the Syntax for all the loops in Shell Scripting.

For Loop:

for var in word1 word2 ... wordN
do
   Statement(s) to be executed for every word.
done

While Loop:

while command
do
   Statement(s) to be executed if command is true
done

Until Loop:

until command
do
   Statement(s) to be executed until command is true
done

Interview Questions for Intermediate

Q21. What makes C shell a more preferable option than the Bourne Shell?

C is a more preferable option in the following cases:

• All the commands can be aliased simply with the C shell whereas the same is not possible in case of Bourne Shell.
• Lengthy commands can be used again and again in C shell whereas the Bourne doesn’t allow the same in all the cases.
• The command history can be accessed through the C shell but it cannot be accessed through the Bourne.

Q22. How would you compare the strings in a Shell Script?

The test command is used to compare the text strings. The test command compares text strings by comparing each character in each string.

Q23. How to redirect both standard output and standard error to the same location?

The two methods to redirect standard output and standard error to the same location are the following;

• 2>&1(# ls /usr/share/doc > out.txt 2>&1 )
• &>(# ls /usr/share/doc &> out.txt )

Q24. Differentiate between ‘ and ” quotes.

• Single Quotes: Used in case evaluation of variables to values is undesired.
• Double Quotes: Used in case evaluation of variables to values is required.

Q25. When should shell programming/scripting not be used?

It is not advisable to use Shell scripting in the following cases;

• When the task is very much complex, e.g. writing the entire payroll processing system.
• Where there is a high degree of productivity required.
• When it needs or involves different software tools.

Q26. What is the lifespan of a variable inside a shell script?

The lifespan of a variable inside shell script is only until the end of execution.

Q27. What is a file system?

The file system is a collection of files which contain information related to the files.

Q28. What are the default permissions of a file when it is created?

On Linux and other Unix-like operating systems, new files are created with a default set of permissions. The umask or user mask command is used to determine the default permissions for newly created files. It is a 4-digit Octal number which is set and expressed using symbolic values. The default permission of a file when it is created is 664 i.e. rw-rw-r-. The table for file permissions is given below;

Q29. What does it mean by #!/bin/sh or #!/bin/bash at the beginning of every script?

A script may specify #!/bin/bash on the first line, meaning that the script should always be run with bash, rather than another shell. /bin/sh is an executable representing the system shell. Actually, it is usually implemented as a symbolic link pointing to the executable for whichever shell is the system shell.

Q30. What is the difference between $* and $@?

$@ treats each quoted arguments as separate arguments but $* will consider the entire set of positional parameters as a single string.

Q31. Determine the output of the following command: name=Shubham && echo ‘My name is $name’.

question 31 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Q32. Determine the output of the following command: [ -z “” ] && echo 0 || echo 1 

question 32 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Q33. Determine the output of the following command: echo ${new:-variable}

q33 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Q34. How to get part of string variable with echo command only?

#!/bin/sh
echo ${variable:x:y}
#x - start position
#y - length

variable="My name is Upasana, and I work at Edureka."
echo ${variable:11:7} # will display Upasana

q34 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Q35. Rewrite the command to print the sentence and convert the variable to plural: echo “I like $variable”.

q35 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Q36. How to print all the arguments provided to the script?

#!/bin/bash  for i; do     echo $i  done

q36 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Q37. How to print PID of the current shell?

#!/bin/sh

for PID in $$
do
echo $PID
done

q37 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Q38. How to print all array elements and their respective indexes?

!/bin/sh
array=("This" "is" "Shell" "Scripting")
echo ${array[@]}
echo ${!array[@]}

q38 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Q39. How to print the first array element?

#!/bin/sh
array=("This" "is" "Shell" "Scripting" )
echo ${array[0]}

q39 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Q40. What is the Crontab?

Crontab stands for cron table because it uses the job scheduler cron to execute tasks. The crontab is a list of commands that you want to run on a regular schedule, and also the name of the command used to manage that list. 

The schedule is called the crontab, which is also the name of the program used to edit that schedule.

Interview Questions for the Experienced

Q41. How many fields are present in a crontab file and what does each field specify?

The crontab file has six fields.

The first five fields contain information on when to execute the command and they are as follows;

• minute(0-59)
• hour(0-23)
• day(1-31)
• month(1-12)
• day of the week(0-6, Sunday = 0).

The sixth field contains the command to be executed.

Q42. What are the two files of crontab command?

The two files of crontab command are:

• cron.allow which decides the users need to be permitted for using the crontab command.
• cron.deny which decides the users need to be prevented from using the crontab command.

Q43. What command needs to be used to take the backup?

The tar command is used to take the backup. It stands for tape archive. The command is mainly used to save and restore files to and from an archive medium like tape.

Q44. What are the different commands available to check the disk usage?

There are three different commands available to check the disk usage.

• df: It is used to check the free disk space.
• du: It is used to check the directory wise disk usage.
• dfspace: It is used to check the free disk space in terms of MB.

Q45. What are the different communication commands available in the Shell?

There are four different communication commands available in Shell.

• mail
• news
• wall
• motd

The total disk space used by Edureka can be found out as shown below.

du –s/home/Edureka

Q47. How to debug the problems encountered in the shell script/program?

Given below are some common methods used to debug the problems in the script.

• Debug statements can be inserted in the shell script to output/display the information which helps to identify the problem.
• Using set -x we can enable debugging in the script.

Q48. What is the difference between = and ==?

• = This is used for assigning value to the variable.
• == This is used for string comparison.

Q49. How to open a read-only file in the Shell?

A read-only file can be opened using the below command:

vi –R <File Name>

Q50. How can the contents of a file inside jar be read without extracting in a shell script?

The contents of the file inside a jar can be read without extracting as shown below.

tar –tvf <File Name>.tar

Q51. Write a shell script to get current date, time, user name and current working directory.

#!/bin/sh
echo "Hello, $LOGNAME"
echo "Today's date is `date`"
echo "Username is `who i am`"
echo "Current directory is `pwd`"

q51 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Q52. How to find all the files modified in less than 3 days and save the record in a text file?

find . -type f -mtime -3 -exec ls -l {} ; > last3days.txt

Q53. Write a Shell Script that adds two numbers if provided as the command Line Argument and if the two numbers are not entered throws an Error Message.

#!/bin/sh
# The Shebang

if [ $# -ne 2 ]
# If two Inputs are not received from Standard Input

then
# then execute the below statements

echo "Usage - $0 x y"
# print on standard output, how-to use the script (Usage - ./1.sh x y )

echo " Where x and y are two nos for which I will print sum"
# print on standard output, “Where x and y are two nos for which I will pri$

exit 1
# Leave shell in Error Stage and before the task was successfully carried o$

fi

# print on standard output, how-to use the script (Usage - ./1.sh x y )

echo " Where x and y are two nos for which I will print sum"
# print on standard output, “Where x and y are two nos for which I will pri$

exit 1
# Leave shell in Error Stage and before the task was successfully carried o$

fi
# End of the if Statement.

echo "Sum of $1 and $2 is `expr $1 + $2`"
# If the above condition was false and user Entered two numbers as a command$

Case 1: When parameters are not passed

q52.1 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Case 2: When parameters are correctly passed

q52.2 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Q54. Print a given number, in reverse order using a Shell script such that the input is provided using command Line Argument only.

#!/bin/sh
if [ $# -ne 1 ]
then
echo "Usage: $0 number"
echo " Reverse of the given number will be printed"
echo " For eg. $0 0123, 3210 will be printed"
exit 1
fi

n=$1
rev=0
sd=0

while [ $n -gt 0 ]
do
sd=`expr $n % 10`
rev=`expr $rev * 10 + $sd`
n=`expr $n / 10`
done

Case 1: When parameters are not passed

q54.1 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Case 2: When the parameter is correctly passed

q54.2 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Q55. Calculate a real number calculation directly from the terminal and not any shell script. 

q55 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Q56. How can you get the value of pi till a 100 decimal places?

q56 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Q57. How will you find the total disk space used by a specific user?

du -sh ~

q57 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Q58. How to check if a directory exists?

#!/bin/sh

if [ -d $mydir ]
then
echo "Directory exists"
fi

q58 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Q59. Can you write a script to portray how set –x works?

#!/bin/sh
#set -x
i=1
while [ $i -lt 6 ]
do
print "in loop iteration: $i"
((i+=1))
done
exit

q59.1 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

#!/bin/sh
set -x
i=1
while [ $i -lt 6 ]
do
print "in loop iteration: $i"
((i+=1))
done
exit

q59.2 – Shell Scripting Interview Questions – Edureka

Q60. Suppose you execute a command using exec, what will be the status of your current process in the shell?

All the forked processes which are new get overlays when the exec is executed. The command simply gets executed without making any impact on the current process. Also, no new process will be created in this scenario.

These were all the questions we could think of, on the various aspects of Shell Scripting in Linux, that would cover you for any interview you’d appear for, in the shortest possible time frame. If you have any interesting questions that have been asked to you in an interview you’ve appeared before, feel free to drop them at the comments bar and we shall answer them for you. You could also refer to this video which explains the solutions to these problems in depth.