Shell scripting is required for scheduled jobs, such as cron jobs, and is highly recommended for the automation of repeated tasks. By automating those tasks, it is less likely that mistakes will be made or that steps are forgotten. These scripts may be for the automation of the backups of the system, management of user accounts, or monitoring of the system status and reporting issues to the system administrator.

PARSEC Group's experts can create the scripts you need to get the job done correctly. We will put in proper error checking and processing; use external functions when necessary and the internal capabilities of the shell when available; and provide documentation on the use and workings of the script when complete.

Each shell has its own strengths and weaknesses. Different systems have different shells available. The most commonly requested shells include:

• Korn Shell
• Bourne Shell
• Bash (Bourne Again Shell)
• C Shell
• tchs (TENEX C Shell)

PARSEC Group can create a single script or any type of custom scripts for our clients. Essentially, we can script anything.

Practical Unix scripting examples:

• Monitoring Unix/Linux systems
• IBM HACMP - High Availability Scripts
• HP MC Service Guard Scripts - Failover Scripts
• Linux Clustering Scripts
• Creating e-mail based alert system
• User Administration
• System Administration
• Find out detailed information about local and remote servers
• Making the same change to multiple servers - possibly 1000’s at the same time
• Data back-ups and creating snapshots
• Find out what processes are locking the system or troubleshooting CPU/memory issues
• Monitor specific processes - For example, if a web server failed then send an alert e-mail
• Security - find out all failed login attempts, if login attempts are continuous from same IP, then you can block that IP

Scripting becomes more valuable when you have multiple servers or the same task is run multiple times. Scripting is absolutely mandatory for sites with 100's of servers.

ROI Justification

If you had to change 1 line in 1 file on 500 unique servers, it may take more than 1-2 days just to login and logout of the servers, not to mention making the change. If you used a script, you can make the same change in less than 5 minutes. The amount of System Administration time you would save is enormous and the number of mistakes is reduced to zero. The ROI of Unix scripting for any business is justification alone.