diff --git a/mmdet/utils/__init__.py b/mmdet/utils/__init__.py
index 350452a95d6..03d7ea0d467 100644
--- a/mmdet/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/mmdet/utils/__init__.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 from .compat_config import compat_cfg
 from .logger import get_caller_name, get_root_logger, log_img_scale
 from .misc import find_latest_checkpoint, update_data_root
+from .replace_cfg_vals import replace_cfg_vals
 from .setup_env import setup_multi_processes
 from .split_batch import split_batch
 from .util_distribution import build_ddp, build_dp, get_device
@@ -11,5 +12,5 @@
     'get_root_logger', 'collect_env', 'find_latest_checkpoint',
     'update_data_root', 'setup_multi_processes', 'get_caller_name',
     'log_img_scale', 'compat_cfg', 'split_batch', 'build_ddp', 'build_dp',
-    'get_device'
+    'get_device', 'replace_cfg_vals'
 ]
diff --git a/mmdet/utils/replace_cfg_vals.py b/mmdet/utils/replace_cfg_vals.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6ca301dc937
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mmdet/utils/replace_cfg_vals.py
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+# Copyright (c) OpenMMLab. All rights reserved.
+import re
+
+from mmcv.utils import Config
+
+
+def replace_cfg_vals(ori_cfg):
+    """Replace the string "${key}" with the corresponding value.
+
+    Replace the "${key}" with the value of ori_cfg.key in the config. And
+    support replacing the chained ${key}. Such as, replace "${key0.key1}"
+    with the value of cfg.key0.key1. Code is modified from `vars.py
+    < https://github.com/microsoft/SoftTeacher/blob/main/ssod/utils/vars.py>`_  # noqa: E501
+
+    Args:
+        ori_cfg (mmcv.utils.config.Config):
+            The origin config with "${key}" generated from a file.
+
+    Returns:
+        updated_cfg [mmcv.utils.config.Config]:
+            The config with "${key}" replaced by the corresponding value.
+    """
+
+    def get_value(cfg, key):
+        for k in key.split('.'):
+            cfg = cfg[k]
+        return cfg
+
+    def replace_value(cfg):
+        if isinstance(cfg, dict):
+            return {key: replace_value(value) for key, value in cfg.items()}
+        elif isinstance(cfg, list):
+            return [replace_value(item) for item in cfg]
+        elif isinstance(cfg, tuple):
+            return tuple([replace_value(item) for item in cfg])
+        elif isinstance(cfg, str):
+            # the format of string cfg may be:
+            # 1) "${key}", which will be replaced with cfg.key directly
+            # 2) "xxx${key}xxx" or "xxx${key1}xxx${key2}xxx",
+            # which will be replaced with the string of the cfg.key
+            keys = pattern_key.findall(cfg)
+            values = [get_value(ori_cfg, key[2:-1]) for key in keys]
+            if len(keys) == 1 and keys[0] == cfg:
+                # the format of string cfg is "${key}"
+                cfg = values[0]
+            else:
+                for key, value in zip(keys, values):
+                    # the format of string cfg is
+                    # "xxx${key}xxx" or "xxx${key1}xxx${key2}xxx"
+                    assert not isinstance(value, (dict, list, tuple)), \
+                        f'for the format of string cfg is ' \
+                        f"'xxxxx${key}xxxxx' or 'xxx${key}xxx${key}xxx', " \
+                        f"the type of the value of '${key}' " \
+                        f'can not be dict, list, or tuple' \
+                        f'but you input {type(value)} in {cfg}'
+                    cfg = cfg.replace(key, str(value))
+            return cfg
+        else:
+            return cfg
+
+    # the pattern of string "${key}"
+    pattern_key = re.compile(r'\$\{[a-zA-Z\d_.]*\}')
+    # the type of ori_cfg._cfg_dict is mmcv.utils.config.ConfigDict
+    updated_cfg = Config(
+        replace_value(ori_cfg._cfg_dict), filename=ori_cfg.filename)
+    # replace the model with model_wrapper
+    if updated_cfg.get('model_wrapper', None) is not None:
+        updated_cfg.model = updated_cfg.model_wrapper
+        updated_cfg.pop('model_wrapper')
+    return updated_cfg
diff --git a/tests/test_utils/test_replace_cfg_vals.py b/tests/test_utils/test_replace_cfg_vals.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..85d9d0e2fa0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_utils/test_replace_cfg_vals.py
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+import os.path as osp
+import tempfile
+from copy import deepcopy
+
+import pytest
+from mmcv.utils import Config
+
+from mmdet.utils import replace_cfg_vals
+
+
+def test_replace_cfg_vals():
+    temp_file = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile()
+    cfg_path = f'{temp_file.name}.py'
+    with open(cfg_path, 'w') as f:
+        f.write('configs')
+
+    ori_cfg_dict = dict()
+    ori_cfg_dict['cfg_name'] = osp.basename(temp_file.name)
+    ori_cfg_dict['work_dir'] = 'work_dirs/${cfg_name}/${percent}/${fold}'
+    ori_cfg_dict['percent'] = 5
+    ori_cfg_dict['fold'] = 1
+    ori_cfg_dict['model_wrapper'] = dict(
+        type='SoftTeacher', detector='${model}')
+    ori_cfg_dict['model'] = dict(
+        type='FasterRCNN',
+        backbone=dict(type='ResNet'),
+        neck=dict(type='FPN'),
+        rpn_head=dict(type='RPNHead'),
+        roi_head=dict(type='StandardRoIHead'),
+        train_cfg=dict(
+            rpn=dict(
+                assigner=dict(type='MaxIoUAssigner'),
+                sampler=dict(type='RandomSampler'),
+            ),
+            rpn_proposal=dict(nms=dict(type='nms', iou_threshold=0.7)),
+            rcnn=dict(
+                assigner=dict(type='MaxIoUAssigner'),
+                sampler=dict(type='RandomSampler'),
+            ),
+        ),
+        test_cfg=dict(
+            rpn=dict(nms=dict(type='nms', iou_threshold=0.7)),
+            rcnn=dict(nms=dict(type='nms', iou_threshold=0.5)),
+        ),
+    )
+    ori_cfg_dict['iou_threshold'] = dict(
+        rpn_proposal_nms='${model.train_cfg.rpn_proposal.nms.iou_threshold}',
+        test_rpn_nms='${model.test_cfg.rpn.nms.iou_threshold}',
+        test_rcnn_nms='${model.test_cfg.rcnn.nms.iou_threshold}',
+    )
+
+    ori_cfg_dict['str'] = 'Hello, world!'
+    ori_cfg_dict['dict'] = {'Hello': 'world!'}
+    ori_cfg_dict['list'] = [
+        'Hello, world!',
+    ]
+    ori_cfg_dict['tuple'] = ('Hello, world!', )
+    ori_cfg_dict['test_str'] = 'xxx${str}xxx'
+
+    ori_cfg = Config(ori_cfg_dict, filename=cfg_path)
+    updated_cfg = replace_cfg_vals(deepcopy(ori_cfg))
+
+    assert updated_cfg.work_dir \
+        == f'work_dirs/{osp.basename(temp_file.name)}/5/1'
+    assert updated_cfg.model.detector == ori_cfg.model
+    assert updated_cfg.iou_threshold.rpn_proposal_nms \
+        == ori_cfg.model.train_cfg.rpn_proposal.nms.iou_threshold
+    assert updated_cfg.test_str == 'xxxHello, world!xxx'
+    ori_cfg_dict['test_dict'] = 'xxx${dict}xxx'
+    ori_cfg_dict['test_list'] = 'xxx${list}xxx'
+    ori_cfg_dict['test_tuple'] = 'xxx${tuple}xxx'
+    with pytest.raises(AssertionError):
+        cfg = deepcopy(ori_cfg)
+        cfg['test_dict'] = 'xxx${dict}xxx'
+        updated_cfg = replace_cfg_vals(cfg)
+    with pytest.raises(AssertionError):
+        cfg = deepcopy(ori_cfg)
+        cfg['test_list'] = 'xxx${list}xxx'
+        updated_cfg = replace_cfg_vals(cfg)
+    with pytest.raises(AssertionError):
+        cfg = deepcopy(ori_cfg)
+        cfg['test_tuple'] = 'xxx${tuple}xxx'
+        updated_cfg = replace_cfg_vals(cfg)
diff --git a/tools/analysis_tools/analyze_results.py b/tools/analysis_tools/analyze_results.py
index 15db07e41c7..916a6b2200f 100644
--- a/tools/analysis_tools/analyze_results.py
+++ b/tools/analysis_tools/analyze_results.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 from mmdet.core.evaluation import eval_map
 from mmdet.core.visualization import imshow_gt_det_bboxes
 from mmdet.datasets import build_dataset, get_loading_pipeline
-from mmdet.utils import update_data_root
+from mmdet.utils import replace_cfg_vals, update_data_root
 
 
 def bbox_map_eval(det_result, annotation):
@@ -188,6 +188,9 @@ def main():
 
     cfg = Config.fromfile(args.config)
 
+    # replace the ${key} with the value of cfg.key
+    cfg = replace_cfg_vals(cfg)
+
     # update data root according to MMDET_DATASETS
     update_data_root(cfg)
 
diff --git a/tools/analysis_tools/benchmark.py b/tools/analysis_tools/benchmark.py
index 2be2d14d7b4..c956968beed 100644
--- a/tools/analysis_tools/benchmark.py
+++ b/tools/analysis_tools/benchmark.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 from mmdet.datasets import (build_dataloader, build_dataset,
                             replace_ImageToTensor)
 from mmdet.models import build_detector
-from mmdet.utils import update_data_root
+from mmdet.utils import replace_cfg_vals, update_data_root
 
 
 def parse_args():
@@ -172,6 +172,9 @@ def main():
 
     cfg = Config.fromfile(args.config)
 
+    # replace the ${key} with the value of cfg.key
+    cfg = replace_cfg_vals(cfg)
+
     # update data root according to MMDET_DATASETS
     update_data_root(cfg)
 
diff --git a/tools/analysis_tools/confusion_matrix.py b/tools/analysis_tools/confusion_matrix.py
index 1c2ceb47acf..5b52ea4c0ff 100644
--- a/tools/analysis_tools/confusion_matrix.py
+++ b/tools/analysis_tools/confusion_matrix.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 from mmdet.core.evaluation.bbox_overlaps import bbox_overlaps
 from mmdet.datasets import build_dataset
-from mmdet.utils import update_data_root
+from mmdet.utils import replace_cfg_vals, update_data_root
 
 
 def parse_args():
@@ -232,6 +232,9 @@ def main():
 
     cfg = Config.fromfile(args.config)
 
+    # replace the ${key} with the value of cfg.key
+    cfg = replace_cfg_vals(cfg)
+
     # update data root according to MMDET_DATASETS
     update_data_root(cfg)
 
diff --git a/tools/analysis_tools/eval_metric.py b/tools/analysis_tools/eval_metric.py
index a074c9e1850..7caafe99df0 100644
--- a/tools/analysis_tools/eval_metric.py
+++ b/tools/analysis_tools/eval_metric.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 from mmcv import Config, DictAction
 
 from mmdet.datasets import build_dataset
-from mmdet.utils import update_data_root
+from mmdet.utils import replace_cfg_vals, update_data_root
 
 
 def parse_args():
@@ -50,6 +50,9 @@ def main():
 
     cfg = Config.fromfile(args.config)
 
+    # replace the ${key} with the value of cfg.key
+    cfg = replace_cfg_vals(cfg)
+
     # update data root according to MMDET_DATASETS
     update_data_root(cfg)
 
diff --git a/tools/analysis_tools/optimize_anchors.py b/tools/analysis_tools/optimize_anchors.py
index acf72acb26c..421998f945d 100644
--- a/tools/analysis_tools/optimize_anchors.py
+++ b/tools/analysis_tools/optimize_anchors.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 
 from mmdet.core import bbox_cxcywh_to_xyxy, bbox_overlaps, bbox_xyxy_to_cxcywh
 from mmdet.datasets import build_dataset
-from mmdet.utils import get_root_logger, update_data_root
+from mmdet.utils import get_root_logger, replace_cfg_vals, update_data_root
 
 
 def parse_args():
@@ -325,6 +325,9 @@ def main():
     cfg = args.config
     cfg = Config.fromfile(cfg)
 
+    # replace the ${key} with the value of cfg.key
+    cfg = replace_cfg_vals(cfg)
+
     # update data root according to MMDET_DATASETS
     update_data_root(cfg)
 
diff --git a/tools/misc/browse_dataset.py b/tools/misc/browse_dataset.py
index 14db64ee050..d9fb2851220 100644
--- a/tools/misc/browse_dataset.py
+++ b/tools/misc/browse_dataset.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 from mmdet.core.utils import mask2ndarray
 from mmdet.core.visualization import imshow_det_bboxes
 from mmdet.datasets.builder import build_dataset
-from mmdet.utils import update_data_root
+from mmdet.utils import replace_cfg_vals, update_data_root
 
 
 def parse_args():
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ def skip_pipeline_steps(config):
 
     cfg = Config.fromfile(config_path)
 
+    # replace the ${key} with the value of cfg.key
+    cfg = replace_cfg_vals(cfg)
+
     # update data root according to MMDET_DATASETS
     update_data_root(cfg)
 
diff --git a/tools/misc/print_config.py b/tools/misc/print_config.py
index 7bb20fa60de..f10f5384a6a 100644
--- a/tools/misc/print_config.py
+++ b/tools/misc/print_config.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 from mmcv import Config, DictAction
 
-from mmdet.utils import update_data_root
+from mmdet.utils import replace_cfg_vals, update_data_root
 
 
 def parse_args():
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@ def main():
 
     cfg = Config.fromfile(args.config)
 
+    # replace the ${key} with the value of cfg.key
+    cfg = replace_cfg_vals(cfg)
+
     # update data root according to MMDET_DATASETS
     update_data_root(cfg)
 
diff --git a/tools/test.py b/tools/test.py
index a6cd9ecbb89..884e0a4f6c6 100644
--- a/tools/test.py
+++ b/tools/test.py
@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@
                             replace_ImageToTensor)
 from mmdet.models import build_detector
 from mmdet.utils import (build_ddp, build_dp, compat_cfg, get_device,
-                         setup_multi_processes, update_data_root)
+                         replace_cfg_vals, setup_multi_processes,
+                         update_data_root)
 
 
 def parse_args():
@@ -134,6 +135,9 @@ def main():
 
     cfg = Config.fromfile(args.config)
 
+    # replace the ${key} with the value of cfg.key
+    cfg = replace_cfg_vals(cfg)
+
     # update data root according to MMDET_DATASETS
     update_data_root(cfg)
 
diff --git a/tools/train.py b/tools/train.py
index fd29cae1311..cff19f037e1 100644
--- a/tools/train.py
+++ b/tools/train.py
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@
 from mmdet.datasets import build_dataset
 from mmdet.models import build_detector
 from mmdet.utils import (collect_env, get_device, get_root_logger,
-                         setup_multi_processes, update_data_root)
+                         replace_cfg_vals, setup_multi_processes,
+                         update_data_root)
 
 
 def parse_args():
@@ -109,6 +110,9 @@ def main():
 
     cfg = Config.fromfile(args.config)
 
+    # replace the ${key} with the value of cfg.key
+    cfg = replace_cfg_vals(cfg)
+
     # update data root according to MMDET_DATASETS
     update_data_root(cfg)
 
@@ -142,6 +146,7 @@ def main():
         # use config filename as default work_dir if cfg.work_dir is None
         cfg.work_dir = osp.join('./work_dirs',
                                 osp.splitext(osp.basename(args.config))[0])
+
     if args.resume_from is not None:
         cfg.resume_from = args.resume_from
     cfg.auto_resume = args.auto_resume