LinuxWorld offers up this intro tutorial on shell scripting.
Much more powerful than a Windows batch file, shell scripts can be used to run multiple tasks. Here's a brief introduction.
One of the underlying attractions of the Linux operating system is the power given to users through the shell. This month I'll introduce you to the Linux shell and give some examples of how you can use Linux more efficiently with an introduction to shell scripting.
Linux shell scripting
Before we jump in to the deep end of shell scripting, some background may be helpful. The shell is the interface between you and your computer. A shell is the first program executed when you log in and everything you run, including the GUI, is run within a shell. To access a shell under a GUI, you will need to start a Terminal, or an XTerm as they are traditionally known.
The shell is normally interactive; that is, you enter a command and it is executed straight away and the results returned to you. It is possible to group several commands together in a plain text file, known as a shell script. When this text file is executed, the commands contained within are executed in sequential order. This concept is similar to a batch file under Windows, however as you will see, Linux shell scripts are much more powerful than their Windows counterparts.
