How can I check if a directory exists in a Bash shell script?

Question

What command can be used to check if a directory exists or not, within a Bash shell script?

Answer 1

If you want to check if a directory exists, regardless if it's a real directory or a symlink, use this:

ls $DIR
if [ $? != 0 ]; then
        echo "Directory $DIR already exists!"
        exit 1;
fi
echo "Directory $DIR does not exist..."

Explanation: The "ls" command gives an error "ls: /x: No such file or directory" if the directory or symlink does not exist, and also sets the return code, which you can retrieve via "$?", to non-null (normally "1"). Be sure that you check the return code directly after calling "ls".