How to Exit When Errors Occur in Bash Scripts

When writing Bash scripts, it’s essential to include error handling to ensure that the script exits gracefully in the event of an error. In this article, we’ll cover all the possible techniques for exiting when errors occur in Bash scripts, including the use of exit codes, the “set -e” option, the “trap” command, and command substitution. In this article, we will discuss the various techniques and methods to handle errors and exit gracefully in Bash scripts. Error handling is an essential aspect of writing scripts, as it helps to ensure that the script exits in an appropriate manner, even when an error occurs. Without proper error handling, a script might continue to execute even when an error has occurred, leading to unexpected results or even system crashes.

We will start by discussing the use of exit codes, which are used to indicate the status of the script’s execution. We will then move on to the “set -e” option, which causes the script to exit immediately if any command exits with a non-zero exit code. Next, we will cover the “trap” command, which allows you to specify a command or set of commands to be executed when the script exits, whether it’s due to an error or not. Then, we will look at command substitution, which allows you to capture the output of a command and assign it to a variable. Finally, we will discuss the technique of suppressing error messages.

Exiting when errors occur in Bash scripts is an important aspect of script development, as it helps to ensure that the script stops running and exits cleanly in the event of an error. There are several ways to exit a Bash script when an error occurs, including using the exit command, using the return command, and using the trap command. It is also important to include error handling and error messages in your script to provide useful information to the user in the event of an error.

Exit Codes

Exit codes are used to indicate the status of the script’s execution, with a zero exit code indicating success and non-zero codes indicating an error. One of the simplest ways to exit a Bash script when an error occurs is to use the “exit” command with a non-zero exit code. For example, the following script exits with a code of 1 if the “mkdir” command fails:

Script:

#!/bin/bash
mkdir /tmp/example
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
  exit 1
fi

Output:

Another way to check the exit code of a command is by using the $? variable. For example, the following script also exits with a code of 1 if the “mkdir” command fails:

Script:

#!/bin/bash

mkdir /home/lucifer/yash/first

if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then

echo “Error: Failed to create directory”

  exit 1

fi

Output:

Set -e Option

Another way to exit a Bash script when an error occurs is to use the “set -e” option. This option causes the script to exit immediately if any command exits with a non-zero exit code. For example, the following script exits immediately if the “mkdir” command fails:

Script:

#!/bin/bash
set -e
mkdir /tmp/example

Output:

Trap Command

The trap command allows you to specify a command or set of commands to be executed when the script exits, whether it’s due to an error or not. For example, the following script uses the trap command to delete the directory if the script exits with a non-zero exit code:

Script:

#!/bin/bash
trap 'rm -rf /tmp/example' EXIT
mkdir /tmp/example
# some commands here
exit 0

Output:

Command Substitution

Another way to handle errors in Bash scripts is by using command substitution. This technique allows you to capture the output of a command and assign it to a variable. For example, the following script captures the output of the “mkdir” command and assigns it to the “result” variable. If the command fails, the script exits with a code of 1:

Script:

#!/bin/bash
result=$(mkdir /tmp/example)
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
  echo "Error: $result"
  exit 1
fi

Output:

In this example, if the mkdir command fails to create the directory, the error message will be assigned to the “result” variable and displayed on the console.

Suppressing Error Messages

It is also possible to suppress the error message generated by a command by adding 2> /dev/null to the command.

Script:

#!/bin/bash
mkdir /tmp/example 2> /dev/null
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
  exit 1
fi

Output:

In this example, if the mkdir command fails to create the directory, the error message will not be displayed on the console.

Exit When Any Command Fails

One way to exit a Bash script when any command fails is to use the set -e option. This option causes the script to exit immediately if any command returns a non-zero exit status.
For example, the following script will exit if the ls command fails to list the contents of the specified directory:

Script:

#!/bin/bash
set -e
ls /nonexistent_directory
echo "This line will not be executed"

If the directory /nonexistent_directory does not exist, the script will exit with an error message like this:

Output:

And it will not execute the second line.

Another way to exit if any command fails is to use the || operator after each command, for example:

Script:

#!/bin/bash

ls /nonexistent_directory || exit 1

echo “This line will not be executed”This script will also exit with an error message

Output:

And it will not execute the second line.

You can also check the exit status of the last command with $? variable and use the if condition with the exit command to exit if any command fails.

Script:

#!/bin/bash
ls /nonexistent_directory
if [ $? -ne 0 ]
then
  echo "Command failed"
  exit 1
else
  echo "Command Successful"
fi

This script will also exit with an error message:

Output:

And it will not execute the second line.

It is important to note that, when using the set -e option or || operator, the script will exit even if the failure is in a command inside a function or a subshell. To prevent this behavior, you can use set +e before the function or subshell and set -e after it.

Exit Only When Specific Commands Fail

To exit a Bash script only when specific commands fail, you can use the || operator in conjunction with the exit command. The || operator is used to execute a command only if the preceding command fails (returns a non-zero exit status).
For example, the following script will exit if the ls command fails to list the contents of the specified directory, but will continue to execute subsequent commands even if they fail:

Script:

#!/bin/bash
ls /nonexistent_directory || exit 1
echo "This line will be executed"
rm /nonexistent_file || true
echo "This line will also be executed"

If the directory /nonexistent_directory does not exist, the script will exit with an error message like this:

Output:

And it will not execute the second and third lines.

It is important to note that, the true command is used to prevent the rm command from causing the script to exit if it fails. Without the true command, the script would exit if the file /nonexistent_file does not exist.

Another way to achieve this is by using an if statement and checking the exit status of the command with $? variable, like:

Script:

#!/bin/bash
ls /nonexistent_directory
if [ $? -ne 0 ]
then
  echo "Command failed"
  exit 1
else
  echo "Command Successful"
fi
echo "This line will be executed"
rm /nonexistent_file
if [ $? -ne 0 ]
then
  echo "Command failed"
else
  echo "Command Successful"
fi

This script will also exit with an error message:

Output:

And it will not execute the second and third lines.

It is important to note that, the exit status of the last executed command is stored in the $? variable. And you can use it to check if the command is successful or not.

Conclusion

There are multiple ways to handle errors and exit gracefully in Bash scripts. By using exit codes, the “set -e” option, the “trap” command, command substitution, and suppressing error messages, you can ensure that your script exits in an appropriate manner and provides appropriate error handling for your script. It’s essential to test your script with different inputs and error conditions to ensure that it is handling errors as expected. It’s also important to include clear and descriptive error messages that indicate the cause of the error and provide guidance on how to resolve it. With these techniques, you can write robust and reliable Bash scripts that can handle errors and exit gracefully.