linux-shell-scripting skill
This skill should be used when the user asks to "create bash scripts", "automate Linux tasks", "monitor system resources", "backup files", "manage users", or "write production shell scripts". It provides ready-to-use shell script templates for system administration.
Is the linux-shell-scripting skill safe?
Read the findings before you install it. We read 1 file in the folder on 2026-09-28.
- high
SKILL.md:191Reads credential files (SSH keys, cloud or package-manager tokens) that a skill has no normal reason to touch.
for user in $(grep "/bin/bash" /etc/passwd | cut -d: -f1); do
Install the linux-shell-scripting skill
A skill is a folder. Copy it into your agent's skills folder and the agent loads it when the task matches its description.
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/zebbern/claude-code-guide.git /tmp/claude-code-guide mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills cp -r /tmp/claude-code-guide/skills/linux-shell-scripting ~/.claude/skills/linux-shell-scripting
In the Claude apps, zip the folder and upload it from the Skills settings. The folder on GitHub
The instructions your agent would load
SKILL.md as published, without the frontmatter. Read it on GitHub
Linux Production Shell Scripts
Purpose
Provide production-ready shell script templates for common Linux system administration tasks including backups, monitoring, user management, log analysis, and automation. These scripts serve as building blocks for security operations and penetration testing environments.
Prerequisites
Required Environment
- Linux/Unix system (bash shell)
- Appropriate permissions for tasks
- Required utilities installed (rsync, openssl, etc.)
Required Knowledge
- Basic bash scripting
- Linux file system structure
- System administration concepts
Outputs and Deliverables
- Backup Solutions - Automated file and database backups
- Monitoring Scripts - Resource usage tracking
- Automation Tools - Scheduled task execution
- Security Scripts - Password management, encryption
Core Workflow
Phase 1: File Backup Scripts
Basic Directory Backup
#!/bin/bash
backup_dir="/path/to/backup"
source_dir="/path/to/source"
# Create a timestamped backup of the source directory
tar -czf "$backup_dir/backup_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).tar.gz" "$source_dir"
echo "Backup completed: backup_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).tar.gz"Remote Server Backup
#!/bin/bash
source_dir="/path/to/source"
remote_server="user@remoteserver:/path/to/backup"
# Backup files/directories to a remote server using rsync
rsync -avz --progress "$source_dir" "$remote_server"
echo "Files backed up to remote server."Backup Rotation Script
#!/bin/bash
backup_dir="/path/to/backups"
max_backups=5
# Rotate backups by deleting the oldest if more than max_backups
while [ $(ls -1 "$backup_dir" | wc -l) -gt "$max_backups" ]; do
oldest_backup=$(ls -1t "$backup_dir" | tail -n 1)
rm -r "$backup_dir/$oldest_backup"
echo "Removed old backup: $oldest_backup"
done
echo "Backup rotation completed."Database Backup Script
#!/bin/bash
database_name="your_database"
db_user="username"
db_pass="password"
output_file="database_backup_$(date +%Y%m%d).sql"
# Perform database backup using mysqldump
mysqldump -u "$db_user" -p"$db_pass" "$database_name" > "$output_file"
gzip "$output_file"
echo "Database backup created: $output_file.gz"Phase 2: System Monitoring Scripts
CPU Usage Monitor
#!/bin/bash
threshold=90
# Monitor CPU usage and trigger alert if threshold exceeded
cpu_usage=$(top -bn1 | grep "Cpu(s)" | awk '{print $2}' | cut -d. -f1)
if [ "$cpu_usage" -gt "$threshold" ]; then
echo "ALERT: High CPU usage detected: $cpu_usage%"
# Add notification logic (email, slack, etc.)
# mail -s "CPU Alert" admin@example.com <<< "CPU usage: $cpu_usage%"
fiDisk Space Monitor
#!/bin/bash
threshold=90
partition="/dev/sda1"
# Monitor disk usage and trigger alert if threshold exceeded
disk_usage=$(df -h | grep "$partition" | awk '{print $5}' | cut -d% -f1)
if [ "$disk_usage" -gt "$threshold" ]; then
echo "ALERT: High disk usage detected: $disk_usage%"
# Add alert/notification logic here
fiCPU Usage Logger
#!/bin/bash
output_file="cpu_usage_log.txt"
# Log current CPU usage to a file with timestamp
timestamp=$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')
cpu_usage=$(top -bn1 | grep 'Cpu(s)' | awk '{print $2}' | cut -d. -f1)
echo "$timestamp - CPU Usage: $cpu_usage%" >> "$output_file"
echo "CPU usage logged."System Health Check
#!/bin/bash
output_file="system_health_check.txt"
# Perform system health check and save results to a file
{
echo "System Health Check - $(date)"
echo "================================"
echo ""
echo "Uptime:"
uptime
echo ""
echo "Load Average:"
cat /proc/loadavg
echo ""
echo "Memory Usage:"
free -h
echo ""
echo "Disk Usage:"
df -h
echo ""
echo "Top Processes:"
ps aux --sort=-%cpu | head -10
} > "$output_file"
echo "System health check saved to $output_file"Phase 3: User Management Scripts
User Account Creation
#!/bin/bash
username="newuser"
# Check if user exists; if not, create new user
if id "$username" &>/dev/null; then
echo "User $username already exists."
else
useradd -m -s /bin/bash "$username"
echo "User $username created."
# Set password interactively
passwd "$username"
fiPassword Expiry Checker
#!/bin/bash
output_file="password_expiry_report.txt"
# Check password expiry for users with bash shell
echo "Password Expiry Report - $(date)" > "$output_file"
echo "=================================" >> "$output_file"
IFS=$'\n'
for user in $(grep "/bin/bash" /etc/passwd | cut -d: -f1); do
password_expires=$(chage -l "$user" 2>/dev/null | grep "Password expires" | awk -F: '{print $2}')
echo "User: $user - Password Expires: $password_expires" >> "$output_file"
done
unset IFS
echo "Password expiry report saved to $output_file"Phase 4: Security Scripts
Password Generator
#!/bin/bash
length=${1:-16}
# Generate a random password
password=$(openssl rand -base64 48 | tr -dc 'a-zA-Z0-9!@#$%^&*' | head -c"$length")
echo "Generated password: $password"File Encryption Script
#!/bin/bash
file="$1"
action="${2:-encrypt}"
if [ -z "$file" ]; then
echo "Usage: $0 <file> [encrypt|decrypt]"
exit 1
fi
if [ "$action" == "encrypt" ]; then
# Encrypt file using AES-256-CBC
openssl enc -aes-256-cbc -salt -pbkdf2 -in "$file" -out "$file.enc"
echo "File encrypted: $file.enc"
elif [ "$action" == "decrypt" ]; then
# Decrypt file
output_file="${file%.enc}"
openssl enc -aes-256-cbc -d -pbkdf2 -in "$file" -out "$output_file"
echo "File decrypted: $output_file"
fiPhase 5: Log Analysis Scripts
Error Log Extractor
#!/bin/bash
logfile="${1:-/var/log/syslog}"
output_file="error_log_$(date +%Y%m%d).txt"
# Extract lines with "ERROR" from the log file
grep -i "error\|fail\|critical" "$logfile" > "$output_file"
echo "Error log created: $output_file"
echo "Total errors found: $(wc -l < "$output_file")"Web Server Log Analyzer
#!/bin/bash
log_file="${1:-/var/log/apache2/access.log}"
echo "Web Server Log Analysis"
echo "========================"
echo ""
echo "Top 10 IP Addresses:"
awk '{print $1}' "$log_file" | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | head -10
echo ""
echo "Top 10 Requested URLs:"
awk '{print $7}' "$log_file" | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | head -10
echo ""
echo "HTTP Status Code Distribution:"
awk '{print $9}' "$log_file" | sort | uniq -c | sort -rnPhase 6: Network Scripts
Network Connectivity Checker
#!/bin/bash
hosts=("8.8.8.8" "1.1.1.1" "google.com")
echo "Network Connectivity Check"
echo "=========================="
for host in "${hosts[@]}"; do
if ping -c 1 -W 2 "$host" &>/dev/null; then
echo "[UP] $host is reachable"
else
echo "[DOWN] $host is unreachable"
fi
doneWebsite Uptime Checker
#!/bin/bash
websites=("https://google.com" "https://github.com")
log_file="uptime_log.txt"
echo "Website Uptime Check - $(date)" >> "$log_file"
for website in "${websites[@]}"; do
if curl --output /dev/null --silent --head --fail --max-time 10 "$website"; then
echo "[UP] $website is accessible" | tee -a "$log_file"
else
echo "[DOWN] $website is inaccessible" | tee -a "$log_file"
fi
doneNetwork Interface Info
#!/bin/bash
interface="${1:-eth0}"
echo "Network Interface Information: $interface"
echo "========================================="
ip addr show "$interface" 2>/dev/null || ifconfig "$interface" 2>/dev/null
echo ""
echo "Routing Table:"
ip route | grep "$interface"Phase 7: Automation Scripts
Automated Package Installation
#!/bin/bash
packages=("vim" "htop" "curl" "wget" "git")
echo "Installing packages..."
for package in "${packages[@]}"; do
if dpkg -l | grep -q "^ii $package"; then
echo "[SKIP] $package is already installed"
else
sudo apt-get install -y "$package"
echo "[INSTALLED] $package"
fi
done
echo "Package installation completed."Task Scheduler (Cron Setup)
#!/bin/bash
scheduled_task="/path/to/your_script.sh"
schedule_time="0 2 * * *" # Run at 2 AM daily
# Add task to crontab
(crontab -l 2>/dev/null; echo "$schedule_time $scheduled_task") | crontab -
echo "Task scheduled: $schedule_time $scheduled_task"Service Restart Script
#!/bin/bash
service_name="${1:-apache2}"
# Restart a specified service
if systemctl is-active --quiet "$service_name"; then
echo "Restarting $service_name..."
sudo systemctl restart "$service_name"
echo "Service $service_name restarted."
else
echo "Service $service_name is not running. Starting..."
sudo systemctl start "$service_name"
echo "Service $service_name started."
fiPhase 8: File Operations
Directory Synchronization
More skills from zebbern/claude-code-guide
- Aacademic-paper-reviewerSimulates academic peer review, evaluating papers across Originality, Methodology, Results, and Writing to provide Major/Minor Revision recommendations with actionable feedback. Triggers when a user asks to \"review my paper,\" \"simulate peer review,\" or \"give my paper a peer review.
- Aactive-directory-attacksThis skill should be used when the user asks to "attack Active Directory", "exploit AD", "Kerberoasting", "DCSync", "pass-the-hash", "BloodHound enumeration", "Golden Ticket", "Silver Ticket", "AS-REP roasting", "NTLM relay", or needs guidance on Windows domain penetration testing.
- Capi-fuzzing-bug-bountyThis skill should be used when the user asks to "test API security", "fuzz APIs", "find IDOR vulnerabilities", "test REST API", "test GraphQL", "API penetration testing", "bug bounty API testing", or needs guidance on API security assessment techniques.
- Aapi-shape-explorerGenerate multiple radically different interface designs for a module using parallel sub-agents. Use when user wants to design an API, explore interface options, compare module shapes, or mentions "design it twice".
- Aaudit-flowInteractive system flow tracing across CODE, API, AUTH, DATA, NETWORK layers with SQLite persistence and Mermaid export. Use for security audits, compliance documentation, flow tracing, feature ideation, brainstorming, debugging, architecture reviews, or incident post-mortems. Triggers on audit, trace flow, document flow, security review, debug flow, brainstorm, architecture review, post-mortem, incident review.
- Aauthentication-patternsAuthentication patterns: session vs JWT vs OAuth comparison, provider selection (NextAuth, Clerk, Supabase Auth), security checklist, and common mistakes. Use when implementing auth, reviewing auth flows, or choosing auth providers.
- Aaws-penetration-testingThis skill should be used when the user asks to "pentest AWS", "test AWS security", "enumerate IAM", "exploit cloud infrastructure", "AWS privilege escalation", "S3 bucket testing", "metadata SSRF", "Lambda exploitation", or needs guidance on Amazon Web Services security assessment.
- Abroken-authenticationThis skill should be used when the user asks to "test for broken authentication vulnerabilities", "assess session management security", "perform credential stuffing tests", "evaluate password policies", "test for session fixation", or "identify authentication bypass flaws". It provides comprehensive techniques for identifying authentication and session management weaknesses in web applications.
- Cburp-suite-testingThis skill should be used when the user asks to "intercept HTTP traffic", "modify web requests", "use Burp Suite for testing", "perform web vulnerability scanning", "test with Burp Repeater", "analyze HTTP history", or "configure proxy for web testing". It provides comprehensive guidance for using Burp Suite's core features for web application security testing.
- AcachingCaching strategies — invalidation, TTL guidelines, cache keys, cache layers, and when not to cache. Use when implementing or reviewing caching logic.
- Achart-imageGenerate publication-quality PNG chart images from data, supporting line, bar, area, candlestick, pie, and heatmap charts. Triggers when the user asks to visualize data, create a graph, plot a time series, or generate a chart for a report, alert, or dashboard. Runs as a lightweight, headless Node.js process without a browser.
- Dcloud-penetration-testingThis skill should be used when the user asks to "perform cloud penetration testing", "assess Azure or AWS or GCP security", "enumerate cloud resources", "exploit cloud misconfigurations", "test O365 security", "extract secrets from cloud environments", or "audit cloud infrastructure". It provides comprehensive techniques for security assessment across major cloud platforms.