Check Whether a User Exists

Question

I want to create a script to check whether a user exists. I am using the logic below:

# getent passwd test > /dev/null 2&>1
# echo $?
0
# getent pa         


        

Answer 1

Depending on your shell implementation (e.g. Busybox vs. grown-up) the [ operator might start a process, changing $?.

Try

getent passwd $1 > /dev/null 2&>1
RES=$?

if [ $RES -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "yes the user exists"
else
    echo "No, the user does not exist"
fi