How to check the size of a directory and print it in bash?

Question

How can I check the size of a specific directory in Linux(CentOS) and print it out?

I know I can use lvs and df(df -f "path to dir") but how can I get just a number like 78Gbs instead of the whole thing(avail, used, etc)

Answer 1

To find the size of a directory without any other info:

$ du -sh path/to/dir | awk '{print $1}'
118M

To get the size of a partition:

$ df -h /home | tail -n1 | awk '{print $2}'
14G

The tail gets rid of the header and awk prints just the size of the partition. On the other hand, if you want just the amount of space used on the partition:

$ df -h /home | tail -n1 | awk '{print $3}'
11G

Answer 2

do you mean du -sh ? Depending on your need you may use other options