Exit script gracefully

There are many ways to exit a script. Below are a few ways to do so gracefully.

Wait for key press and exit

This script prompts you to press any key, waits for you to do so, and then exits the script when you do.

#!/bin/bash
echo -n "Press any key to close this window.";
read keypress;
exit;

Wait for key press and display an interactive response and exit

This script prompts you for a response, waits for your response, reads the response, displays a comment containing the response, and then exits.

#!/bin/bash
echo -n "Type your name to close terminal window: "
read name;
echo "Goodbye, $name. I hope you enjoyed this script.";
exit;

Wait for key press and display an interactive response and pause and exit

This script prompts you for a response, waits for your response, reads the response, displays a comment containing the response, pauses for 2 seconds, and then exits.

#!/bin/bash
echo -n "Type your name to close terminal window: "
read name;
echo "Goodbye, $name. I hope you enjoyed this script.";
sleep 2;
exit;

See also

• For more information on echo and how to use it in Bash scripts, type man echo into a terminal window and press the Enter key to see the echo manual.
• For more information on read and how to use it in Bash scripts, type man read into a terminal window and press the Enter key to see the read manual.
• For more information on exit codes and how to use exit in Bash scripts, see Exit and Exit Status.

Obligatory Happy Ending

And they all lived happily ever after. The end.