How do I set or create variables within my shell script or at command line under Linux and Unix like operating systems?

You can easily create and set variables within a script using the following syntax:

variable=value
x=5
y=10
dest=/nas05/backup
today="Monday"

value is assigned to given variable and value must be on right side of = (equal) sign. If value is not given, the variable is assigned the null string. In this example set shell variable called dest to /nas05/backup/full, enter:

dest="/nas05/backup/full"

To display the value of a variable called dest, enter:

echo "$dest"

OR

echo "${dest}"

OR

printf "%s\n" dest

See also:

• Assign values to shell variables – from the Linux shell scripting tutorial wiki.