Get home directory path in Python on Linux as root

Question

I have a script where I need the path string of the current user. I am using os.path.expanduser("~") . My problem is that if I execute the script as root the path is /root , where I wanted to have something like /home/user-name . How can I achieve this in Python3?

This snippet

from os.path import expanduser
print(expanduser("~"))

when called as root sudo python3 test.py returns:

/root

Answer 1

Update after post edit.

Use os.environ to get the SUDO_USER variable or as fallback USERNAME .

Script test.py :

import os

username = os.environ.get('SUDO_USER', os.environ.get('USERNAME'))
print(os.path.expanduser(f'~{username}'))

Execution:

$ python test.py
/home/louis

$ sudo python test.py
/home/louis

From man sudo :

SUDO_USER Set to the login name of the user who invoked sudo.

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Old answer before your edit.

Use os.path.expanduser :)

>>> os.path.expanduser('~louis')
/home/louis