mkdir(1p) — Linux manual page
MKDIR(1P) POSIX Programmer's Manual MKDIR(1P)
PROLOG
This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The
Linux implementation of this interface may differ (consult the
corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior),
or the interface may not be implemented on Linux.
NAME
mkdir — make directories
SYNOPSIS
mkdir [-p] [-m mode] dir...
DESCRIPTION
The mkdir utility shall create the directories specified by the
operands, in the order specified.
For each dir operand, the mkdir utility shall perform actions
equivalent to the mkdir() function defined in the System
Interfaces volume of POSIX.1‐2017, called with the following
arguments:
1. The dir operand is used as the path argument.
2. The value of the bitwise-inclusive OR of S_IRWXU, S_IRWXG,
and S_IRWXO is used as the mode argument. (If the -m option
is specified, the value of the mkdir() mode argument is
unspecified, but the directory shall at no time have
permissions less restrictive than the -m mode option-
argument.)
OPTIONS
The mkdir utility shall conform to the Base Definitions volume of
POSIX.1‐2017, Section 12.2, Utility Syntax Guidelines.
The following options shall be supported:
-m mode Set the file permission bits of the newly-created
directory to the specified mode value. The mode option-
argument shall be the same as the mode operand defined
for the chmod utility. In the symbolic_mode strings,
the op characters '+' and '-' shall be interpreted
relative to an assumed initial mode of a=rwx; '+' shall
add permissions to the default mode, '-' shall delete
permissions from the default mode.
-p Create any missing intermediate pathname components.
For each dir operand that does not name an existing
directory, before performing the actions described in
the DESCRIPTION above, the mkdir utility shall create
any pathname components of the path prefix of dir that
do not name an existing directory by performing actions
equivalent to first calling the mkdir() function with
the following arguments:
1. A pathname naming the missing pathname component,
ending with a trailing <slash> character, as the
path argument
2. The value zero as the mode argument
and then calling the chmod() function with the
following arguments:
1. The same path argument as in the mkdir() call
2. The value (S_IWUSR|S_IXUSR|~filemask)&0777 as the
mode argument, where filemask is the file mode
creation mask of the process (see the System
Interfaces volume of POSIX.1‐2017, umask(3p))
Each dir operand that names an existing directory shall
be ignored without error.
OPERANDS
The following operand shall be supported:
dir A pathname of a directory to be created.
STDIN
Not used.
INPUT FILES
None.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The following environment variables shall affect the execution of
mkdir:
LANG Provide a default value for the internationalization
variables that are unset or null. (See the Base
Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, Section 8.2,
Internationalization Variables for the precedence of
internationalization variables used to determine the
values of locale categories.)
LC_ALL If set to a non-empty string value, override the values
of all the other internationalization variables.
LC_CTYPE Determine the locale for the interpretation of
sequences of bytes of text data as characters (for
example, single-byte as opposed to multi-byte
characters in arguments).
LC_MESSAGES
Determine the locale that should be used to affect the
format and contents of diagnostic messages written to
standard error.
NLSPATH Determine the location of message catalogs for the
processing of LC_MESSAGES.
ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS
Default.
STDOUT
Not used.
STDERR
The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.
OUTPUT FILES
None.
EXTENDED DESCRIPTION
None.
EXIT STATUS
The following exit values shall be returned:
0 All the specified directories were created successfully, or
the -p option was specified and all the specified
directories either already existed or were created
successfully.
>0 An error occurred.
CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS
Default.
The following sections are informative.
APPLICATION USAGE
The default file mode for directories is a=rwx (777 on most
systems) with selected permissions removed in accordance with the
file mode creation mask. For intermediate pathname components
created by mkdir, the mode is the default modified by u+wx so
that the subdirectories can always be created regardless of the
file mode creation mask; if different ultimate permissions are
desired for the intermediate directories, they can be changed
afterwards with chmod.
Note that some of the requested directories may have been created
even if an error occurs.
EXAMPLES
None.
RATIONALE
The System V -m option was included to control the file mode.
The System V -p option was included to create any needed
intermediate directories and to complement the functionality
provided by rmdir for removing directories in the path prefix as
they become empty. Because no error is produced if any path
component already exists, the -p option is also useful to ensure
that a particular directory exists.
The functionality of mkdir is described substantially through a
reference to the mkdir() function in the System Interfaces volume
of POSIX.1‐2017. For example, by default, the mode of the
directory is affected by the file mode creation mask in
accordance with the specified behavior of the mkdir() function.
In this way, there is less duplication of effort required for
describing details of the directory creation.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
None.
SEE ALSO
chmod(1p), rm(1p), rmdir(1p), umask(1p)
The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, Chapter 8,
Environment Variables, Section 12.2, Utility Syntax Guidelines
The System Interfaces volume of POSIX.1‐2017, mkdir(3p),
umask(3p)
COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic
form from IEEE Std 1003.1-2017, Standard for Information
Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The
Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7, 2018 Edition, Copyright
(C) 2018 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the event of any
discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and The
Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group
Standard is the referee document. The original Standard can be
obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
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