MKDIR(P) MKDIR(P)
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 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, 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 mode option-argument overrides this
default.)
OPTIONS
The mkdir utility shall conform to the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001,
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, effects equivalent to those
caused by the following command shall occur:
mkdir -p -m $(umask -S),u+wx $(dirname dir) &&
mkdir [-m mode] dir
where the -m mode option represents that option supplied to the original invocation of
mkdir, if any.
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 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 8.2, Inter-
nationalization 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 interna-
tionalization 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 argu-
ments).
LC_MESSAGES
Determine the locale that should be used to affect the format and contents of diag-
nostic 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 speci-
fied and all the specified directories now exist.
>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 per-
missions 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 subdi-
rectories 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 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001. 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() , rm , rmdir() , umask() , the System Interfaces volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001,
mkdir()
COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std
1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System
Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 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 orig-
inal Standard can be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
POSIX 2003 MKDIR(P)
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