diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..02b486a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+*.bak
+*.backup
+*.gho
+*.ori
+*.orig
+*.tmp
+*.swp
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ac91938..4086d5e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,2 +1,30 @@
-# bash-helper
+## bash-helper-script
+
+A collection of helper functions to be used within your bash script.
+
+### Download via git clone
+```
+git clone https://git.x-files.dk/bash/bash-helper.git
+```
+> **NOTE**
+> The helper script should reside in the same directory as your main bash script.
+
+### How to source the script within your main bash script.
+```bash
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+source "$(dirname "$0")/helper"
+
+# main bash script goes below this line
+```
+
+### Guide and howto's examples can be found here.
+Bash helper function howto [\[link\]](https://wiki.x-files.dk/doku.php?id=linux:bash_helper_howto)
+
+### More guides
+More guides can be found on [\[wiki.x-files.dk\]](https://wiki.x-files.dk)
+
+### Last tested
+August 20th 2025 on Ubuntu 24.04.
+
 
diff --git a/helper b/helper
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..527b2dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/helper
@@ -0,0 +1,221 @@
+#####################################################################
+# First Created: 15082025 Author: Allan Desc:
+# supplies multiple functions that can help in creating bash scripts.
+#
+# For documentation and examples please see this link.
+#
+# https://wiki.x-files.dk/doku.php?id=linux:bash_helper_howto
+#
+# Download from git use this link.
+#
+# https://git.x-files.dk/bash/bash-helper-script 
+#
+#####################################################################
+ 
+#
+# Are we root if not die
+#
+must_be_root() {
+    local required="$1"
+ 
+    if [[ "$required" == "yes" ]]; then
+        if [[ $UID -ne 0 ]]; then
+            printf "\nThis script must be run as root or use sudo\n\n"
+            exit 1
+        fi
+    fi
+}
+ 
+#
+# Are we in the right directory if not die
+#
+must_be_in_dir() {
+    local required_dir="$1"
+    if [[ "${PWD##*/}" != "$required_dir" ]]; then
+        printf "\nWrong directory! This script must be run from the directory '%s'\n\n" "$required_dir"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+}
+
+#
+# Output x characters
+#
+line() { printf "%0.s$1" $(seq 1 $2); printf '\n'; }
+ 
+# 
+# Checks if a service is running or not and react accordingly
+#
+
+#
+# Service(s) must be running
+#
+must_be_running() {
+    local bad_services=()
+    for service in "$@"; do
+        if [[ "$(systemctl is-active "$service")" != "active" ]]; then
+            bad_services+=("$service")
+        fi
+    done
+
+    if (( ${#bad_services[@]} > 0 )); then
+        echo "The following service(s) appear not to be running, cannot continue..."
+        for svc in "${bad_services[@]}"; do
+            echo "  - $svc"
+        done
+        exit 1
+    fi
+}
+
+#
+# Service(s) must not be running
+#
+must_not_be_running() {
+    local bad_services=()
+    for service in "$@"; do
+        if [[ "$(systemctl is-active "$service")" == "active" ]]; then
+            bad_services+=("$service")
+        fi
+    done
+
+    if (( ${#bad_services[@]} > 0 )); then
+        echo "The following service(s) appear already to be running, cannot continue..."
+        for svc in "${bad_services[@]}"; do
+            echo "  - $svc"
+        done
+        exit 1
+    fi
+}
+ 
+#
+# Detect input mode: "flags" or "positional" this will detect whether $1 or getopts is beeing used.
+#
+detect_mode() {
+    for arg in "$@"; do
+        if [[ "$arg" == -* ]]; then
+            echo "flags"
+            return
+        fi
+    done
+    echo "positional"
+}
+ 
+#
+# Print usage dynamically (adapts to mode)
+#
+usage() {
+    local mode
+    mode=$(detect_mode "$@")
+ 
+    printf "Usage: %s " "$0"
+ 
+    if [[ $mode == "flags" ]]; then
+        printf "[options]\n"
+        for flag in "${flags[@]}"; do
+            short="${flag%%:*}"
+            rest="${flag#*:}"
+            desc="${rest#*:}"
+            desc="${desc%%:*}"
+            printf "  -%s  %s\n" "$short" "$desc"
+        done
+        printf "  -h  Show help\n\n"
+ 
+        printf "Example:\n"
+        example="$0"
+        for flag in "${flags[@]}"; do
+            short="${flag%%:*}"
+            rest="${flag#*:}"          # remove short
+            rest="${rest#*:}"          # remove var
+            desc="${rest%%:*}"         # description
+            rest="${rest#*:}"
+            sample="${rest%%:*}"
+            example+=" -$short ${sample:-$desc}"
+        done
+        printf "%s\n\n" "$example"
+ 
+    else
+        # positional usage
+        for flag in "${flags[@]}"; do
+            rest="${flag#*:}"
+            var="${rest%%:*}"
+            rest="${rest#*:}"
+            desc="${rest%%:*}"
+            rest="${rest#*:}"
+            sample="${rest%%:*}"
+            required="${flag##*:}"
+ 
+            if [[ "$required" == "true" ]]; then
+                printf "<%s> " "$desc"
+            else
+                printf "[%s] " "$desc"
+            fi
+        done
+        printf "\n\n"
+ 
+        printf "Example:\n"
+        example="$0"
+        for flag in "${flags[@]}"; do
+            rest="${flag#*:}"      # remove short
+            rest="${rest#*:}"      # remove var
+            desc="${rest%%:*}"
+            rest="${rest#*:}"
+            sample="${rest%%:*}"
+            example+=" ${sample:-$desc}"
+        done
+        printf "%s\n\n" "$example"
+    fi
+}
+ 
+#
+# Validate required input (works in both modes)
+#
+validate_input() {
+    local mode
+    mode=$(detect_mode "$@")
+    local missing=false
+    local i=1
+ 
+    for flag in "${flags[@]}"; do
+        short="${flag%%:*}"
+        rest="${flag#*:}"
+        var="${rest%%:*}"
+        rest="${rest#*:}"
+        desc="${rest%%:*}"
+        rest="${rest#*:}"
+        sample="${rest%%:*}"
+        required="${flag##*:}"
+ 
+        value="${!var}"
+ 
+        if [[ -z "$value" && $mode == "positional" ]]; then
+            value="${!i}"
+            if [[ -n "$value" ]]; then
+                printf -v "$var" '%s' "$value"
+            fi
+        fi
+ 
+        if [[ "$required" == "true" && -z "${!var}" ]]; then
+            printf "Error! %s is empty.\n" "$desc"
+            missing=true
+        fi
+        ((i++))
+    done
+ 
+    if [[ $missing == true ]]; then
+        printf "\n"
+        usage "$@"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+}
+
+#
+# git clone if repo does not exist
+#
+git_clone_if_missing() {
+    local repo="$1"
+    local target_dir="$2"
+    local branch="${3:-main}"
+
+    [[ -d "$target_dir/.git" ]] && return
+    echo "Cloning repository $repo into $target_dir..."
+    git clone --quiet --branch "$branch" "$repo" "$target_dir"
+}