Bash compare strings not working inside of while loop

Question

I created this bash script and can't seem to figure out why my code inside of the if block isn't executing.

db_instances_status="creating" 
db_instances_status=$(makes api request to get value)

COUNTER=0
while [ $COUNTER -lt 1 ]; do
  db_instances_status=$(makes api request to get value)

  echo "$db_instances_status" # echos available

  if [ "available" = "$db_instances_status" ]; then
     # code never makes it here
     dosomething()
     break;
  fi
  sleep 30
done

I followed examples from this How to compare strings in Bash

and here https://tecadmin.net/tutorial/bash/examples/check-if-two-strings-are-equal/

Add a line above your if statement that says db_instances_status='available'. Now does your code enter the if section? If it does then db_instances_status does NOT just contain available in your surrounding code. — Ed Morton
– Ed Morton, Commented May 15, 2019 at 23:53
Try echo "X${db_instances_status}X" in case the status has leading/trailing spaces. — John3136
– John3136, Commented May 15, 2019 at 23:53

John3136 · Accepted Answer · 2019-05-16 00:10:50Z

1

You either are not getting to the if statement or else the variable doesn't contain what you think it does.

This snippet will help debug both...

while [ $COUNTER -lt 1 ]; do
  echo "[DEBUG] getting status"
  db_instances_status=$(makes api request to get value)
  echo "[DEBUG] X${db_instances_status}X"
  echo "$db_instances_status" # echos available

  if [ "available" = "$db_instances_status" ]; then

answered May 16, 2019 at 0:10

John3136

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1 Comment

James Over a year ago

Thanks for helping me debug. The actual value was being returned in quotes. it didn't execute because "available" doesn't equal available

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