How can I use history command in a bash script?

Question

I try to use history command in a bash script but it didn't work.

The code of the bash file:

#!/bin/bash

# Copy history to file history 

#cd /media/saleel_almajd/Study/linux/my_scripts/
echo "start Copy history to /media/saleel_almajd/Study/linux/my_scripts/history.txt"
export HISTTIMEFORMAT='%F %T ' #to make history and date apear
history >> /media/saleel_almajd/Study/linux/my_scripts/history.txt
#cd 
echo "... copy done ..."
#history -c
echo "..... history cleared ..... "

echo "___ Done Successfully ___"

Answer 1

history is disabled by default in non-interactive shells by bash. You have to enable it.

The script should look like this:

#!/bin/bash

HISTFILE=~/.bash_history  # Set the history file.
HISTTIMEFORMAT='%F %T '   # Set the hitory time format.
set -o history            # Enable the history.

file="/media/saleel_almajd/Study/linux/my_scripts/history.txt"

history >> $file          # Save the history.
history -cw               # Clears the history of the current session.

Reference:

• History command inside bash script
• “history” stops working when run inside bash script

Answer 2

When you run script, it runs in another shell in background not the current one. So, the effect to this script will be in that another shell. If you want to make effect to the current shell, you must precede dot before script. Change directory to your current script then, issue: . scriptname instead of ./scriptname

Answer 3

history command is disabled by default on bash script that's why even 
history command won't work in .sh file. for its redirection, kindly
redirect bash_history file inside the .sh file.

or history mechanism can be enabled also by mentioning history file and
change run-time parameters as mentioned below

#!/bin/bash
HISTFILE=~/.bash_history
set -o history 

note: mentioned above two lines on the top of the script file. now history command will work in history.