AUDIENCE:   This course is intended for IT professionals familiar with Unix/Linux at the user level, and who wish to gain skills in automating administrative tasks. PREREQUISITES:   This course assumes that the delegate is familiar with the Linux/Unix command-line interface, and can effectively manipulate files and processes, and be efficient with the vi editor. DURATION:   2 days. Hands on. OBJECTIVES:   The course provides delegates with the knowledge and skills necessary to benefit from developing effective BASH scripts for system administration and maximise the benefits of the most commonly used Linux utilities. Delegates are taught how to develop simple scripts to automate frequently executed commands, add conditional logic, user interaction, loops, menus and functions to enhance the productivity and effectiveness of the system administrator. This highly practical course covers Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL4), but much of the material is also relevant to earlier versions. After completing this course, students will be able to: Develop and debug shell scripts Use local and environment variables and shell metacharacters in scripts Customize system-wide shell initialization files Use the exit status of a command to determine if the command succeeded or failed Access and process command-line arguments passed into a script Use flow control constructs such as branching and looping Perform string manipulation and integer arithmetic on shell variables Write a script that uses functions Benefit from using signals and traps COURSE CONTENT:   BASH Overview Writing, running and debugging shell scripts Shell operation, working with commands Environment control Translation services Command history Control structures Advanced features