Create the Progress Bar in Bash

When it is required to wait for a fixed amount of time during the execution of a script, it is better to create a progress bar to inform the user to wait for some time. The progress bar can be created using a simple Bash script or using some built-in Linux commands such as “cv”, “dialog”, etc. The methods of creating a progress bars using a Bash script are shown in this tutorial.

Different Examples of Creating a Progress Bar in Bash

The different ways of implementing a progress bar in Bash are shown in this part of the tutorial.

Example 1: Implement a Simple Progress Bar without Any Command

Create a Bash file with the following script that displays a progress bar using the “#” character and the “sleep” command. The “printf” command is used here to display the progress bar. The progress bar is divided into four parts. The 25% is displayed after 1 second. The 50% is displayed after 3 seconds. The 75% is displayed after 2 seconds. The 100% is displayed after 1 second.

#!/bin/bash

printf "\nWait to complete the task...\n\n"

#Wait for 1 second

sleep 1

#Print the first part of the progress bar

printf "[##### ] 25%% completed.\r"

#Wait for 3 seconds

sleep 3

#Print the second part of the progress bar

printf "[########## ] 50%% completed.\r"

#Wait for 2 seconds

sleep 2

#Print the third part of the progress bar

printf "[############### ] 75%% completed.\r"

#Wait for 1 second

sleep 1

#Print the last of the progress bar

printf "[####################] 100%% completed.\r"

printf "\n\nTask completed.\n\n"

The following output appears after 1 second of executing the script:

The following output appears after 7 seconds of executing the script:

Example 2: Implement the Progress Bar Using the “Pv” Command

The full form of the “pv” command is “pipe viewer”. It is used to monitor the progress of the data that is passed through the pipe and display the progress bar based on the size of the data. This command is not installed by default in the system. Run the following command to install the “pv” command before practicing the script of this example:

$ sudo apt install pv

You have to select a file of large size that is copied from one location to another location. Create a Bash file with the following script that copies the “test.txt” file from the current location to the “/home/fahmida/temp/” location. The “pv” command is used here to display the progress bar. The progress bar is displayed based on the size of the “test.txt” file.

#!/bin/bash

echo "Copying file from one location to another location."

#Wait for 2 seconds

sleep 2

#Copy the file to the destination

cat test.txt | pv -s $(stat -c%s test.txt) > /home/fahmida/temp/test.txt

echo "File has been copied."

The following output is displayed after completing the execution of the script:

Example 3: Implement the Progress Bar Using the “Dialog” Command

Another way of implementing a progress bar in Bash is using the “dialog” command. This command can be used to display a good looking progress bar in the terminal. Many types of widgets can be displayed using this progress bar. The task of the progress bar that is displayed by this command can be controlled by the Bash script. This progress bar is not installed in the system by default. Run the following command to install this progress bar in the system:

$ sudo apt install dialog

Create a Bash file with the following script that displays a progress bar using the “dialog” command. The task of copying the “/etc/passwd” file into the “/home/fahmida/tempdir” location is displayed using a progress bar. The progress bar is divided into five parts; each part is displayed after 2 seconds. The –title option is used in the “dialog” command to display the title of the progress bar. The –gauge option is used in the “dialog” command to display the progress bar with a height of 10 lines and a width of 100 characters. The “Waiting to complete the task” message is displayed above the progress bar.

#!/bin/bash

#Initialize the counter

current_pos=0

(

#Define an infinite loop

for((;;))

do

cat <<EOF

delimiter

$current_pos

#Show the current counter value

cp /etc/passwd to /home/fahmida/tempdir ( $current_pos%):

delimiter

EOF

#Increment the counter by 20

(( current_pos+=20 ))

#Terminate from the loop when the counter value is more than 100

[ $current_pos -gt 100 ] && break

#Wait for 2 seconds after each increment

sleep 2

done

) | dialog --title "Copying file..." --gauge "Waiting to complete the task" 10 100 0

The following output appears after 6 seconds of executing the script:

The following output appears after 10 seconds of executing the script:

Conclusion

The different ways of developing a progress bar using a Bash script are shown in this tutorial to help the Bash users use the progress bar on their program.