Bash command runs in terminal but not in script file

Question

I\'m trying to delete some files and folders from a directory. The command (from here):

rm -rf !(file_i_don\'t_want_to_remove|other|other_one)

Answer 1

You need the extglob extension enabled for this syntax to work:

#!/bin/bash
shopt -s extglob
cd /path/to/dir # See the comment below the answer
rm -rv !(one|two)

PS: Do not use rm -f in a script.

PS: If /path/to/dir is coming from a variable, make sure that is is not empty before using it with cd:

if [ -z "${path_to_delete}" ] ; then
    "path_to_delete is empty! Aborting"
    exit 1
fi
cd "${path_to_delete}"
rm -rv !(one|two)