Unix Shell Scripting Certification Training Course Syllabus

Overview: This hands-on Unix Shell Scripting course is designed for beginners and spans approximately 8 weeks with a weekly commitment of 6–8 hours. The curriculum covers essential Unix concepts, command-line navigation, file management, text processing, and shell scripting fundamentals. Each module includes practical labs focused on real-world system administration tasks, emphasizing automation and text manipulation. By the end, you'll complete a final project to solidify your skills in scripting and process management, preparing you for roles in IT and DevOps.

Module 1: Unix Environment & Shell Basics

Estimated time: 6 hours

• Understand the Unix philosophy and design principles
• Use terminal emulators and navigate the shell interface
• Explore different shell types (bash, zsh)
• Work with environment variables and shell built-ins

Module 2: File & Directory Management

Estimated time: 6 hours

• Navigate the Unix filesystem hierarchy (/, /etc, /home)
• Perform file operations using ls, cp, mv, rm
• Manage file permissions with chmod and chown
• Create and differentiate hard and soft links

Module 3: Text Processing & Filters

Estimated time: 6 hours

• Use cat, more, less, head, and tail for file inspection
• Chain commands using pipes to filter data
• Redirect input and output streams with >, <, and |
• Extract and summarize log file contents through filtering pipelines

Module 4: Advanced Text Tools – grep, awk, sed

Estimated time: 6 hours

• Apply grep for pattern matching and searching in files
• Process fields and generate reports using awk
• Edit text streams dynamically with sed
• Write one-liners to parse CSVs and modify configuration files

Module 5: Shell Scripting Essentials

Estimated time: 6 hours

• Write scripts with proper structure and shebang
• Use variables, positional parameters, and quoting rules
• Create scripts to automate backups and environment setup

Module 6: Control Structures & Functions

Estimated time: 6 hours

• Implement if, elif, else conditionals in scripts
• Use case statements for multi-branch logic
• Apply for and while loops for iteration
• Define and call functions with argument parsing

Module 7: Process Management & Job Control

Estimated time: 6 hours

• Monitor processes using ps and top
• Control foreground and background jobs with bg, fg
• Terminate processes using kill commands
• Schedule tasks using cron and crontab

Module 8: User, Group, & Package Management

Estimated time: 6 hours

• Manage users and groups via /etc/passwd and /etc/group
• Add, modify, and remove users with useradd/usermod
• Install and manage software using apt and yum

Module 9: Final Project

Estimated time: 8 hours

• Develop a complete automation script combining file, text, and process handling
• Incorporate functions, conditionals, and user inputs
• Deploy and test the script in a sandbox environment

Prerequisites

• Familiarity with basic computer operations
• No prior Unix or Linux experience required
• Access to a Unix-like environment (Linux or macOS, or VM)

What You'll Be Able to Do After

• Navigate and manage files efficiently in Unix systems
• Process and transform text data using grep, awk, and sed
• Write reusable shell scripts to automate system tasks
• Manage users, permissions, and software packages
• Improve operational efficiency through scripting and cron automation