Bash: How to Check if the File or Directory Does Not Exist

About “bash if file does not exist” issue

You might want to check if file does not exist in bash in order to make the file manipulation process easier and more streamlined.

This is the job of the test command, which can check if a file exists and its type.

Since only the check is completed, the test command sets the exit code to 0 or 1 (either false or true, respectively) whether the test is successful or not.

The test command also has a logical "not" operator, which can get a TRUE answer when you need to test whether a file does not exist.

Check if the directory still exists

The -d operator allows you to test if a file is a directory.

For example, to check if the /etc/filetocheck directory exists, you can use:

NOTE: You can also use double brackets [[ instead of [ single brackets.

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