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🖥️ System Information Script (sysinfo.sh)

sysinfo.sh is a Bash script that displays basic system information such as the current date and time, username, working directory, home directory, and the number of files in the current directory.

This project was built as a learning exercise to understand shell scripting fundamentals, command substitution, environment variables, pipes, and permissions.

📌 Project Description

The goal of this script is to:

  • Practice writing executable shell scripts
  • Learn how to retrieve system information from the terminal
  • Understand how commands can be combined using pipes
  • Explore how Bash performs command substitution similar to JavaScript template literals

The script gathers system information at runtime and formats it into a clean, readable output.

🛠️ Requirements

  • A Unix-based system (Linux or macOS)
  • Bash shell

No external dependencies are required.

🚀 How to Run the Script

1️⃣ Clone or download the project

git clone https://github.com/AJ1732/shell-script-dashboard.git
cd shell-script-dashboard

2️⃣ Give the script execute permission

chmod +x scripts/sysinfo.sh

This step is required because scripts are not executable by default.

3️⃣ Run the script

./scripts/sysinfo.sh

🧪 Example Output

==== System Information ====
    Date & Time: Fri Jan 23 00:17:42 WAT 2026
    Username: mac
    Current Directory: /Users/mac/Documents/coding/rise-academy/tasks/week-1
    Home Directory: /Users/mac
    Files in Current Directory: 4
============================

🧠 How the Script Works

The script uses command substitution ($(...)) and environment variables to retrieve system information:

  • $(date) → current date and time
  • $(whoami) → current system user
  • $(pwd) → current working directory
  • $HOME → user’s home directory
  • ls -A | wc -l → counts files in the current directory

All values are combined into a multi-line string and printed using echo.

⚠️ Challenges Faced & How They Were Solved

1. Understanding Command Substitution

Challenge: Confusion about how expressions like $(date) work and why they resemble JavaScript template literals.

Solution: Learned that $(...) runs a command and substitutes its output before execution, similar in concept to ${} in JavaScript.

2. Getting the Home Directory

Challenge: Expected a command like pwd to exist for the home directory.

Solution: Learned that the home directory is stored in the environment variable $HOME, which is the idiomatic and correct approach.

3. Counting Files Correctly

Challenge: How to count files.

Solution:

ls | wc -l

📈 What This Project Demonstrates

  • Bash scripting basics
  • Command substitution
  • Environment variables
  • Pipes (|) and command chaining
  • File permissions
  • Writing readable CLI output