Bash shell – check if file or directory exists

Bash code snippet to check if file exists

FILE=/etc/passwd
if [ -f $FILE ] ; then
  echo "$FILE exists and is regular file"
else
  echo "$FILE either does not exist or is not regular file"
fi

Outcome:

/etc/passwd exists and is regular file

Bash code snippet to check if directory exists

DIR=/etc
if [ -d $DIR ] ; then
  echo "$DIR exists and is a dir"
else
  echo "$DIR does not exist or is not a dir"
fi

Outcome:

/etc exists and is a dir

Bash code snippet to check if file or directory exists

FILE_OR_DIR=/etc
if [ -e $FILE_OR_DIR ] ; then
  echo "$FILE_OR_DIR exists"
else
  echo "$FILE_OR_DIR does not exist"
fi

Outcome:

/etc exists