How to Define Your Own System Command Scripts
The following uses the small, handy
pico
editor. Suppose that the command script you want to create is called
zzz
. Note that system scripts' names do not contain suffixes.
- Open a
konsole
window.
- Change to the
~/bin
(i.e., /home/vunetid/bin
) directory: cd ~\bin
- List the
~/bin
directory to see if a shell script named zzz
is already present: ls
- It's a good idea to check that the system doesn't already contain such a command:
which zzz
- If
zzz
is listed in the contents of the directory, open zzz
in a text editor: pico zzz
- If
zzz
is not present, open a new file to be named zzz
in a text editor: pico zzz
- Type the commands you want in your
bash
script. Use this as the first line of the file: #!/bin/sh
- Exit
pico
by typing Ctrl+X
to save the zzz
file (answer Yes
to saving changes, and keep the name of the file as zzz
).
- At the command prompt type the following to make
zzz
executable: chmod +x
- Change your $PATH to include the
~/bin
directory.
- Change to your 'home' directory:
cd ~
- Open your
.bash_profile
(a hidden file) in a text editor: pico .bash_profile
- In the text editor, type a new line at the end of the file:
export PATH=$PATH:~/bin
if this line is not already in .bash_profile
- Exit
pico
by typing Ctrl+X
to save your .bash_profile
file (answer Yes
to saving changes, and keep the name of the file as .bash_profile
).