Hands-on Lab·LPIC-1

Variables, scope and exit status

Objective 105 is shell customisation and scripting, and two ideas carry most of it: a script runs in a child process unless you source it, and the only thing a caller learns is the exit status. This guide demonstrates both by running the same script three ways and watching whether a change escapes.

102: Shells and Scripting Guide 13 of 33 Beginner

OSUbuntu 26.04 LTS
Kernel7.0.0-30-generic
systemd259
TimeAbout 19 min

One Debian-family host. Every script is created inside a directory the page makes and removes; nothing is installed and nothing outside that directory is touched.
Server Name	IP Address	OS	Roles	CPU	RAM	HDD
LPIC1-A01	192.168.0.76	Ubuntu 26.04 LTS	Debian-family host - dpkg and apt, which objective 102.4 names	2 Core	4 GB	50 GB

This guide includes

Use this for the two ideas that carry the scripting objective. This matters because the shebang decides which shell runs your script - not the one you logged in with, which on these hosts is zsh.

finding that the shebang decides, not your login shell
demonstrating scope three ways, from one script
using exit status, which is the only thing a caller sees

Before you start

The shebang decides, not your login shell
Scope, demonstrated three ways
Exit status is the only thing a caller sees

Official sources

← All LPIC-1 guides

Variables, scope and exit status

This guide includes

Before you start

The shebang decides, not your login shell

Scope, demonstrated three ways

Exit status is the only thing a caller sees

Official sources