Parse XML to get node value in bash script?

Using bash and xmllint (as given by the tags):

xmllint --version  #  xmllint: using libxml version 20703

# Note: Newer versions of libxml / xmllint have a --xpath option which 
# makes it possible to use xpath expressions directly as arguments. 
# --xpath also enables precise output in contrast to the --shell & sed approaches below.
#xmllint --help 2>&1 | grep -i 'xpath'

---

{
# the given XML is in file.xml
host="$(echo "cat /config/global/resources/default_setup/connection/host/text()" | xmllint --nocdata --shell file.xml | sed '1d;$d')"
username="$(echo "cat /config/global/resources/default_setup/connection/username/text()" | xmllint --nocdata --shell file.xml | sed '1d;$d')"
password="$(echo "cat /config/global/resources/default_setup/connection/password/text()" | xmllint --nocdata --shell file.xml | sed '1d;$d')"
dbname="$(echo "cat /config/global/resources/default_setup/connection/dbname/text()" | xmllint --nocdata --shell file.xml | sed '1d;$d')"
printf '%s\n' "host: $host" "username: $username" "password: $password" "dbname: $dbname"
}

# output
# host: localhost
# username: root
# password: pass123
# dbname: testdb

---

In case there is just an XML string and the use of a temporary file is to be avoided, file descriptors are the way to go with xmllint (which is given /dev/fd/3 as a file argument here):

set +H
{
xmlstr='<?xml version="1.0"?>
<config>
    <global>
        <install>
            <date><![CDATA[Tue, 11 Dec 2012 12:31:25 +0000]]></date>
        </install>
        <crypt>
            <key><![CDATA[70e75d7969b900b696785f2f81ecb430]]></key>
        </crypt>
        <disable_local_modules>false</disable_local_modules>
        <resources>
            <db>
                <table_prefix><![CDATA[]]></table_prefix>
            </db>
            <default_setup>
                <connection>
                    <host><![CDATA[localhost]]></host>
                    <username><![CDATA[root]]></username>
                    <password><![CDATA[pass123]]></password>
                    <dbname><![CDATA[testdb]]></dbname>
                    <initStatements><![CDATA[SET NAMES utf8]]></initStatements>
                    <model><![CDATA[mysql4]]></model>
                    <type><![CDATA[pdo_mysql]]></type>
                    <pdoType><![CDATA[]]></pdoType>
                    <active>1</active>
                </connection>
            </default_setup>
        </resources>
        <session_save><![CDATA[files]]></session_save>
    </global>
    <admin>
        <routers>
            <adminhtml>
                <args>
                    <frontName><![CDATA[admin]]></frontName>
                </args>
            </adminhtml>
        </routers>
    </admin>
</config>
'

# exec issue
#exec 3<&- 3<<<"$xmlstr"
#exec 3<&- 3< <(printf '%s' "$xmlstr")
exec 3<&- 3<<EOF
$(printf '%s' "$xmlstr")
EOF

{ read -r host; read -r username; read -r password; read -r dbname; } < <(
       echo "cat /config/global/resources/default_setup/connection/*[self::host or self::username or self::password or self::dbname]/text()" | 
          xmllint --nocdata --shell /dev/fd/3 | 
          sed -e '1d;$d' -e '/^ *--* *$/d'
       )

printf '%s\n' "host: $host" "username: $username" "password: $password" "dbname: $dbname"

exec 3<&-
}
set -H


# output
# host: localhost
# username: root
# password: pass123
# dbname: testdb

Although there are a lot of answers already, I'll chime in with xml2.

$ xml2 < test.xml
/config/global/install/date=Tue, 11 Dec 2012 12:31:25 +0000
/config/global/crypt/key=70e75d7969b900b696785f2f81ecb430
/config/global/disable_local_modules=false
/config/global/resources/db/table_prefix
/config/global/resources/default_setup/connection/host=localhost
/config/global/resources/default_setup/connection/username=root
/config/global/resources/default_setup/connection/password=pass123
/config/global/resources/default_setup/connection/dbname=testdb
/config/global/resources/default_setup/connection/initStatements=SET NAMES utf8
/config/global/resources/default_setup/connection/model=mysql4
/config/global/resources/default_setup/connection/type=pdo_mysql
/config/global/resources/default_setup/connection/pdoType
/config/global/resources/default_setup/connection/active=1
/config/global/session_save=files
/config/admin/routers/adminhtml/args/frontName=admin

With a little magic you can even set those as variables directly:

$ eval $(xml2 < test.xml | tr '/, ' '___' | grep =)
$ echo $_config_global_resources_default_setup_connection_host          
localhost

Using xmllint and the --xpath option, it is very easy. You can simply do this:

XML_FILE=/path/to/file.xml

HOST=$(xmllint --xpath 'string(/config/global/resources/default_setup/connection/host)' $XML_FILE
USERNAME=$(xmllint --xpath 'string(/config/global/resources/default_setup/connection/username)' $XML_FILE
PASSWORD=$(xmllint --xpath 'string(/config/global/resources/default_setup/connection/password)' $XML_FILE 
DBNAME=$(xmllint --xpath 'string(/config/global/resources/default_setup/connection/dbname)' $XML_FILE

If you need to get to an element's attribute, that's also easy using XPath. Imagine you have the file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<addon id="screensaver.turnoff"
       name="Turn Off"
       version="0.10.0"
       provider-name="Dag Wieërs">
  ..snip..
</addon>

The needed shell statements would be:

VERSION=$(xmllint --xpath 'string(/addon/@version)' $ADDON_XML)
AUTHOR=$(xmllint --xpath 'string(/addon/@provider-name)' $ADDON_XML)