How to debug Linux shell scripts

The simplest debugging command is the echo command. You can use echo to print any variable value in any suspected error. This is why most shell Programmers spend 80% of their time debugging programs. The benefit of a shell program is that it does not need to be re-compiled, and it does not take much time to insert an echo command.

Shell also has a real debugging mode. If an error occurs in the script "strangescript", you can debug it as follows:

Sh-x strangescript

This will execute the script and display the values of all variables.

Shell also has a mode that only checks the syntax without executing the script. It can be used as follows:

Sh-N your_script

This will return all syntax errors.