How to Debug Bash Script with “ShellCheck” Command?

While writing a bash script, you might run into a bug or a syntax error every now and then. To debug your script, the “ShellCheck” command can be a handful of ways of finding those errors. Upon executing your script with this command, you can constantly check your script for bugs and receive useful suggestions for improvements. In this article, you are going to learn how to debug the bash script with the “ShellCheck” command. Let’s start!

What is ShellCheck?

ShellCheck is a static analysis tool for shell scripts. It is designed to identify and provide suggestions for common issues, syntax errors, and potential pitfalls in shell scripts written in languages like Bash, Shell, and Dash. ShellCheck analyzes the script’s code and offers recommendations to improve its quality, readability, and adherence to best practices.

How to Install ShellCheck on Ubuntu?

To debug and validate a Bash script using ShellCheck, you should first ensure that you have ShellCheck installed on your system. The easiest way to install ShellCheck on your local machine is to use your package managers, such as apt, apt-get, or yum, according to your Linux distribution or Unix distribution. Run ShellCheck commands according to your distro. If you want to install ShellCheck in Ubuntu, see the following step:

To install ShellCheck on Ubuntu, type the following command in your terminal:

sudo apt install shellcheck