Debugging Bash scripts

Using the -x flag will force Bash to output each line of the shell script you’re running before that line is executed. This can be useful for debugging.

bash -x ./script.sh

The -x flag can also be incorporated into the interpreter line.

#!/usr/bin/env bash -x
 
# Script content...

Finally, this mode can be toggled on and off with the set command within the script itself.

#!/usr/bin/env bash
 
# Some script content...
 
set -x
 
# These lines will be echoed before execution.
 
set +x
 
# These lines will not be echoed...

Frequently set -x is used at the start of a script without a closing set +x, which will just cause all lines of the script to be echoed back before execution.