Web Development & Stuff » OSX

Return exit code of previous shell command

admin — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:45:37 +0000

You can return the exit/return code of the command you just ran in OSX/Linux using this simple command:

echo $?

This is handy when debugging scripts that rely on shell command return values.

Bash – Match exact string in directory listing

admin — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:38:44 +0000

Been doing some bash scripting of late, been meaning to for ages. Really enjoying it too!

Anyway, today I needed to match an exact string in a directory listing (ls). To check if a volume on my Mac Book was mounted, so I could backup to it. Or any other drive for that matter. I ended up using this code:

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#!/bin/bash

if [ "$1" ]; then

  # Look for an exact match of the first passed argument in /Volumes. 

  # The -x switch matches the string ($1) exactly. The -c switch counts the outputted lines.

  if [ $(ls /Volumes/ | grep -c -x "$1") == 1 ]; then

    # Do stuff...

  else

    echo 'Sorry, but no volume with that name not found.'

  fi

else

  echo 'Please pass a destination volume to this backup script as the first command line argument.'

fi

# Usage

bash$ backup.sh "Volume name"

Reload bash_profile / profile without starting a new shell session

admin — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:47:34 +0000

I always used to log-out / log-back-in to shell, to allow changes in my .bash_profile to kick in. I’m guessing this would work in OSX with your .profile file too but I’ve not tested it. Anyways, I discovered you can reload the script on the fly using:

1	source ~/.bash_profile

Mount remote file system on your local file system over SSH – SSHFS

admin — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:07:26 +0000

Lots of love going about today! This time, the recipient is SSHFS which allows you to mount a remote filing system onto your local tree over SSH. In a virtual hosting environment (/vhosts/ etc) it’s pure joy to work with.

You’ll need to install SSHFS on the client (the machine you want to mount the remote system on). All you need on the remote system is SSH. This is already installed on most systems.

You can install SSHFS on OSX with Mac Ports:

1	port install sshfs

On the local client system add the user you’re going to connect with to the fuse group. That group was created when you installed SSHFS:

1	gpasswd -a localuser fuse

Create a directory on the local filing system to use as a mount point:

1	mkdir /vhosts_servername/

Now connect to the remote system using a command line like this on the client:

1	sshfs localuser@yourdomain.com:/remote_directory/ /vhosts_servername

Nice ;]

OSX zoom mode with trackpad / ctrl

admin — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 10:30:01 +0000

Weird, I found the zoom mode on my MacBook “13 today! Hold down the control key (ctrl) and move 2 fingers up the track pad. It’ll zoom the display. Handy to inspect those small graphic issues!