How can I split a shell command over multiple lines when using an IF statement?

by

How can I split a command over multiple lines in the shell, when the command is part of an if statement?

This works: 

if ! fab --fabfile=.deploy/fabfile.py --forward-agent --disable-known-hosts deploy:$target; then rc=1                                                                       
fi

This doesn’t work: 

# does not work:
if ! fab --fabfile=.deploy/fabfile.py \ 
  --forward-agent \
  --disable-known-hosts deploy:$target; then   
  rc=1
fi

Instead of the whole command executing, I get:

./script.sh: line 73: --forward-agent: command not found

More importantly, what is missing from my understanding of Bash that will help me understand this and similar issues in the future?

2 s
2

Leave a Comment