Writing simple scripts to automate tasks in centos

To automate tasks on CentOS using shell scripts, you can write simple scripts to perform repetitive tasks efficiently. Here's an example of writing a simple script to automate the backup of a directory:

#!/bin/bash

# Define variables
backup_dir="/path/to/backup"
source_dir="/path/to/source"

# Create backup directory if it doesn't exist
mkdir -p "$backup_dir"

# Timestamp for backup file
timestamp=$(date +"%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S")

# Backup source directory
tar -czf "$backup_dir/backup_$timestamp.tar.gz" "$source_dir"

# Check if backup was successful
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "Backup completed successfully."
else
    echo "Backup failed. Check logs for details."
fi

Save this script to a file, e.g., backup_script.sh, and make it executable using chmod +x backup_script.sh. Then, you can run it with ./backup_script.sh to execute the backup process.

Explanation of the script:

1. Shebang Line: #!/bin/bash specifies the shell interpreter to use (Bash).
2. Variables: backup_dir and source_dir define the backup directory and source directory paths.
3. Create Backup Directory: mkdir -p "$backup_dir" creates the backup directory if it doesn't exist.
4. Timestamp: timestamp=$(date +"%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S") generates a timestamp for the backup file.
5. Backup Process: tar -czf "$backup_dir/backup_$timestamp.tar.gz" "$source_dir" creates a compressed tar archive of the source directory and saves it with a timestamped filename in the backup directory.
6. Check Backup Status: if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then ... checks the exit status of the tar command. If it's 0 (success), it prints a success message; otherwise, it prints a failure message.