Creating directories with a for loop in bash

Question

So I would like to create x amount of Directories according to the count of a variable.

#!/bin/bash
countOfCaptureFiles=$(wc -l < allCaptures.txt)
echo $countOfCaptureFiles

start=1
end=countOfCaptureFiles
for((i=$start;i<=$end;i++))
do
mkdir "SnortAlert${i}"
done

In my current testing environment the value of countOfCaptureFiles is 3, so I was hoping to create 3 Directories named SnortAlert1 SnortAlert2 SnortAlert3.

I run the script like so: ./myscript.sh

However when I do this I get errors and no output and I believe it has something to do with assinging end=countOfCaptureFiles but I am not sure how to fix this, any help would be appreciated!

You are missing a $ in the end= assignment. Make it end=$countOfCaptureFiles. — codeforester
– codeforester, Commented May 17, 2017 at 3:22
I have tested your code on my mac. No problems. $ is optional because i<=$end is evaluated i<=countOfCaptureFiles and evaluated again to i<=3. What is the error message? Did you 'chmod +x myscript.sh'? — thatseeyou
– thatseeyou, Commented May 17, 2017 at 3:44
You may benefit from a sort standpoint by making all integers you append at the end a fixed width, e.g. 001, 002, 003, .... You can use printf -v name "SnortAlert%03d" "$i", then mkdir "$name" — David C. Rankin
– David C. Rankin, Commented May 17, 2017 at 3:55

thatseeyou · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-17 03:52:21Z

5

Your code is working. But you can minimize using external programs (like wc, cat) like the following.

#!/bin/bash
i=1
while read line;do
    mkdir "SnortAlert${i}"
    let i=i+1
done <allCaptures.txt

answered May 17, 2017 at 3:52

thatseeyou

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jonilyn2730 · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-17 05:49:18Z

2

You can use for in statement to simplify the code like this"

#!/bin/bash
var=$(cat allCaptures.txt)
for line in $var
do
   mkdir "SnowAlert${line}"
done

answered May 17, 2017 at 5:49

jonilyn2730

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