Unlike shell scripts on Unix systems, batch files are run by typing their names without their extensions. So to run a batch file named mapdrive.bat, you would type only “mapdrive”.

Floating-point math, number conversion and generation of random passwords and numbers also are covered. The volume ends with 45 pages devoted to sending pop-up messages from UNIX to Microsoft OSes.

In this post I'll show you how to create a self extracting bash script to automate the installation of files on your system. This script requires coreutils (for cat, tail), awk, gzip, tar and bash.