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standard bash error codes

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Exit codes in bash indicate the previous command’s termination status. 0 indicates that command completion was successful while 1 indicates that command execution failed.

We can check the exit code generated by last command by using $?

$ echo $?

It’s not only 1 that indicates unsuccessful completion, anything greater than 1 is a sign of command failure. Standard error code are listed here:

Exit Code Description
0 Successful execution
1 Unsuccessful execution catchall
2 Incorrect use of shell builtin
126 Command can not execute
127 Command not Found
128 Incorrect exit code argument
128 + num Fatal error signal “num”
130 Script killed with CTRL + C
255+ Exit code is out of range

Note: Exit code is an integer value between 0 and/or 255.