Getting Started with Bash: A Beginner’s Guide to Linux Command Line

Hi

So if you are new to Linux or planning to get yourself dirty with Linux this post is for you.

Now a little bit of history lesson and some things to keep in your mind.

Bash is not the one and only CLI language used in Linux, but it is the most popular one. Why it is so popular, well it is the default shell for the majority of Linux distributions like Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, Fedora, and many more. Also, Bash is highly compatible with other Unix-like systems which means that scripts written in Bash can often be easily ported to other platforms, such as macOS or BSD. In addition to this, its rich feature set including variables, loops, functions, and a whole lot more allows complex command line operations. Because of that, it is used as the primary language for System Administration tasks. Finally and most importantly Bash has a huge community built around it and a whole lot of resources including tutorials, and forums for you to learn and solve problems.

Let’s start. Choose one method out of the 3 given.

1. For people who love to watch videos and follow along.

Here is a free 2-hour course covering the basics of bash done by Gwyn and Josh. This course covers the basics for you to start with bash and even helps you to write your first bash script.

2. If you prefer to read and understand.

Here is the course offered by CISCO Networking Academy called NDG Linux Unhatched. Well, the beauty of this course is you don’t have to keep separate tabs to watch the video and follow along because this course provides a dedicated Linux environment on the same window where you follow the course content. Also, this is totally free.

3. For bookworms out there.

Read the first 11 chapters of LINUX BASICS FOR HACKERS. The rest of the chapters are also fine but they are more towards hacking basically more into Cyber Security.

At this point, I assume you have chosen the method to follow along.

Now follow a study plan, and use Pomodoro Technique to improve efficiency.

What’s next?

Well, this quite depends on what you need to do with bash, if you are planning to land a job like System Administrator, DevOps Engineer, or Cloud Engineer I should say you have more to polish but that doesn’t mean you can’t land a job, maybe a junior level position or for an internship knowledge you gained is more than enough. Here is the list of other resources I found interesting and cover advanced-level topics in Linux for you to follow along.

Extra Resources

Linux Mastery: Master the Linux Command Line in 11.5 Hours

Open Source Software Development, Linux and Git Specialization

Linux Pocket Guide, 3rd Edition

That’s it.

Have an absolutely wonderful day…!!!