bash get home dir by username

Question

I want to obtain home dir of any user with echo

echo ~puchuu
>> /home/puchuu

But I cant use variable

echo ~$USER
>> ~puchuu
echo `echo ~$USER`
>> ~puchuu

choroba · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-06 15:21:58Z

up vote 2 down vote accepted

You can use eval:

eval echo ~$USER

answered Oct 6 '12 at 15:21

choroba
3,240415

glenn jackman · Answer 2 · 2012-10-06 18:50:27Z

up vote 1 down vote

This might work for you:

homedir=$( getent passwd "$USER" | cut -d: -f6 )

answered Oct 6 '12 at 18:50

glenn jackman
2,989315

2 Answers