Run a Bash script command in a specified folder

Question

In a Bash script, is it possible to run a command in a specific folder? For example, I'd like to create a script that prints the contents of the /home folder using ls, no matter which directory the script is saved in.

I'm not too familiar with shell scripting - thanks for the suggestion! — Anderson Green
– Anderson Green, Commented Oct 17, 2012 at 3:15

kev · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-17 02:01:08Z

1

Actually, you can use cd to change directory in a script (but it'll not affect its parent shell). Try

#!/bin/bash
# myscript.sh
cd /home
pwd
ls

It'll print current directory (which is /home) and list the content of it. No matter what location of myscript.sh is.

edited Oct 17, 2012 at 2:01

answered Oct 17, 2012 at 1:48

kev

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3 Comments

Anderson Green Over a year ago

I found this question that led me to believe that it wasn't possible to use cd in a shell script: stackoverflow.com/questions/255414/…

Anderson Green Over a year ago

So would it be better to use an alias (as suggested in the question above), or to simply use the cd command?

kev Over a year ago

bash will start a subshell to run your script which cannot change directory of its parent shell.

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