/Shell/Bash/How can I check if a directory exists in a Bash shell script?

How can I check if a directory exists in a Bash shell script?

To check if a directory exists in a shell script, you can use the following:

if [ -d "$DIRECTORY" ]; then
  # Control will enter here if $DIRECTORY exists.
fi
Or to check if a directory doesn't exist:

if [ ! -d "$DIRECTORY" ]; then
  # Control will enter here if $DIRECTORY doesn't exist.
fi
However, as Jon Ericson points out, subsequent commands may not work as intended if you do not take into account that a symbolic link to a directory will also pass this check. E.g. running this:

ln -s "$ACTUAL_DIR" "$SYMLINK"
if [ -d "$SYMLINK" ]; then 
  rmdir "$SYMLINK" 
fi
Will produce the error message:

rmdir: failed to remove `symlink': Not a directory
So symbolic links may have to be treated differently, if subsequent commands expect directories:

if [ -d "$LINK_OR_DIR" ]; then 
  if [ -L "$LINK_OR_DIR" ]; then
    # It is a symlink!
    # Symbolic link specific commands go here.
    rm "$LINK_OR_DIR"
  else
    # It's a directory!
    # Directory command goes here.
    rmdir "$LINK_OR_DIR"
  fi
fi
Take particular note of the double-quotes used to wrap the variables. The reason for this is explained by 8jean in another answer.

If the variables contain spaces or other unusual characters it will probably cause the script to fail.

Source: stackoverflow.com

Similar codes

10 votes135 views5 answers
How to give permission recursively in linux
Shell/Bash
1 vote134 views1 answer
Linux zypper install pdo_mysql
Shell/Bash
1 vote138 views1 answer
Uninstall service cmd
Shell/Bash
3 votes150 views1 answer
Git initial push
Shell/Bash
20 votes143 views4 answers
Screen recorder for ubuntu
Shell/Bash
0 vote135 views1 answer
Download composer version 1.6.5
Shell/Bash
0 vote137 views1 answer
Get docker container version from inside container
Shell/Bash
0 vote134 views1 answer
Navigate to C drive in bash on WSL-Ubuntu
Shell/Bash
32 votes136 views3 answers
Install pip in ubtunut
Shell/Bash
1 vote161 views1 answer
Kubectl scale --replicas to 0
Shell/Bash