Member-only story

How to make a file executable in Linux/Shell Script?

Neuro Bytes
4 min readFeb 4, 2025

When you first learn and understand Linux, Shell scripting, and its command line, it can be a little overwhelming. But don’t worry, it’s easier than it seems.

One of the first things you’ll need to learn is how to make files executable. Whether you’re working with a bash script or any other type of file, this process is very important to get your code up and running.let me show you how to do this!

What is an Executable File?

In Linux, an executable file refers to a file that can be run as a program. Unlike Windows, which relies on extensions like .exe to denote executables, Linux doesn’t follow this rule. Instead, the key factor for determining whether a file is executable is its permissions. You can mark any file as executable, even if it doesn’t have a specific extension like .sh or .py. It’s all about the permission settings that allow the system to run the file as a program or script.

Key Concepts to Understand

  1. File Permissions: At the heart of Linux’s security and file management lies its permission system. Files have three key permissions: read (r), write (w), and execute (x). These permissions are granted to the file’s owner, group, and others.
  2. The Execute Flag: To run a file, the…

--

--

Neuro Bytes
Neuro Bytes

Written by Neuro Bytes

Azure Cloud Engineer 📊 | Machine Learning enthusiast 🤖 | Python 🐍📈 | SQL | PLSQL #DataScience #DevOps

No responses yet