Unit testing Bash scripts

Question

We have a system that has some Bash scripts running besides Java code. Since we are trying to test everything that could possibly break, and those Bash scripts may break, we want to test them.

The problem is it is hard to test Bash scripts.

Is there a way or a best practice to test Bash scripts? Or should we quit using Bash scripts and look for alternative solutions that are testable?

Answer 1

There is actually a shunit2, an xUnit based unit test framework for Bourne based shell scripts. I haven't used it myself, but it might be worth checking out.

Similar questions have been asked before:

• Unit Testing for Shell Scripts
• Test Anything Protocol in Shell Scripts