Check if a directory or file exists

Within a shell script we can test for the presence of directories and files. In this article we look at the basics and the more exotic options available.

Testing the presence and type of a file can be done using the test command. For shell scripts, it is more common to use the [ command. Yes, it is an actual command. However, it may also be available as a so-called builtin and part of the shell. To validate this for bash, run the compgen -b command.

Check if a file exists

Let’s start with testing if a file exists. This can be done using the -e option.

MYFILE="/etc/passwd"
if [ -e "${MYFILE}" ]; then
    echo "File exists"
fi 

Very often we actually want to test if a file exists and is a regular file. In this common case it might be better to use the -f option instead.

MYFILE="/etc/passwd"
if [ -f "${MYFILE}" ]; then
    echo "File exists an is a regular file"
fi 

Is a file executable?

MYFILE="/etc/passwd"
if [ -x "${MYFILE}" ]; then
    echo "File is executable"
fi 

Check the presence of a directory

ETCDIR="/etc"
if [ -d "${ETCDIR}" ]; then
    echo "Directory ${ETCDIR} exists"
else
    echo "Error: Directory ${ETCDIR} does not exist"
    exit 1
fi

Options