MKDIR

PROLOG

NAME

SYNOPSIS

mkdir [-p] [-m mode] dir...

DESCRIPTION

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 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())

Each dir operand that names an existing directory shall be ignored without error.

OPERANDS

dir

A pathname of a directory to be created.

STDIN

INPUT FILES

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

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

STDOUT

STDERR

OUTPUT FILES

EXTENDED DESCRIPTION

EXIT STATUS

 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

The following sections are informative.  

APPLICATION USAGE

Note that some of the requested directories may have been created even if an error occurs.  

EXAMPLES

RATIONALE

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

SEE ALSO

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(), umask()  

COPYRIGHT

Any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page are most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of the source files to man page format. To report such errors, see https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .

Index

PROLOG

NAME

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

OPTIONS

OPERANDS

STDIN

INPUT FILES

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS

STDOUT

STDERR

OUTPUT FILES

EXTENDED DESCRIPTION

EXIT STATUS

CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS

APPLICATION USAGE

EXAMPLES

RATIONALE

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

SEE ALSO

COPYRIGHT