Running a bash script

[sigfrid]

Hi there,
What is the simplest way to create a workflow that runs a bash script?
I understand I can create a separate action which runs the script and use it in my workflow. I have done that for action shared among multiple repositories.

However, now I need to run a custom script in a single repo and, I feel a separate action is too much.

I’d like to be able to do run a bash script saved at ROOT/.github/script.sh but I can’t figure out how to specify the path in the run step of the workflow below.

name: run-script
on: push

jobs:
run:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v1
- name: script
run: PATH/script.sh
shell: bash
with:
password: ${{ secrets.ACCESS_TOKEN }}

Thanks.

[airtower-luna]

With that setup the path to the script is relative to the root of your repository, so if your script is .github/script.sh that’s all that’s needed in the run step. Remember that the file must be marked as executable, or you need to explicitly call bash with the script as parameter.

[dwenaus]

Example:

        - run:  bash ${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/path/script.sh

[airtower-luna]

Specifying the full path isn't necessary, it could even break things if you use a job container, because the path where the workspace gets mounted into the container isn't the same as on the runner VM. 😅

Best stick to the relative path, e.g.:

        - run:  bash path/script.sh

Some special care might be required if you change the default working directory. 😉

[Simran-B]

To be more explicit, you can write ./.github/script.sh.

If you want to know the full path where the working copy resides in the runner, then you can do run: pwd which will print the working directory.

The absolute path should be /home/runner/work/{repo-name}/{repo-name}/.github/script.sh, so this should also work:

- run: |
    # make file runnable, might not be necessary
    chmod +x "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/.github/script.sh"
# run script
"${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/.github/script.sh"
# or
"${{ format('{0}/.github/script.sh', github.workspace) }}"

[maximkoretskiy]

I would suggest to update file access modes on git level. So you won't be required to change on every action run.

 git update-index --chmod=-x  ./.github/script.sh

[sigfrid]

airtower-luna:

call bash with the script as parameter.

Thanks for the reply.

[sigfrid]

Thanks for your help.

[Curiouspaul1]

what say i want to pass in a value (say from a gh secret) to the shell_script how would I do that?

[airtower-luna]

Usually with an environment variable. The exact syntax will vary depending on your command, of course. Mind that anything included on the command line may be visible to other processes, so it's safer to make your script read the environment variable directly.

- run: ./your_script.bash
  env:
    YOUR_SECRET: ${{ secrets.YOUR_SECRET }}

And then look at the YOUR_SECRET variable in the script. You could also use $YOUR_SECRET in the command line, with the security caveat mentioned above.

[Curiouspaul1]

yes thank you very much, i understand.

[Brambillator]

I use like this:

    - name: Build and Deploy Script
      working-directory: ${{ github.workspace }}/PROJECT_FOLDER
      run: bash ./publish-script.sh

[ghonchesefidi]

Worked for me. Thanks

[sammcj]

Thanks! I really wish Github's documentation wasn't so terrible - why is it hard to find such fundimental information like this!

[bencat-sixense]

It also can be done at job definition level:

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
    defaults:
      run:
        working-directory: ./scripts

[esterified]

worked for me after i added the action actions/checkout@v4
here is the full code:

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - name: Run bash script
        run: bash file.sh