1MKDIR(P) POSIX Programmer's Manual MKDIR(P)
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6 mkdir - make directories
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9 mkdir [-p][-m mode] dir...
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12 The mkdir utility shall create the directories specified by the oper‐
13 ands, in the order specified.
14 For each dir operand, the mkdir utility shall perform actions equiva‐
16 lent to the mkdir() function defined in the System Interfaces volume of
17 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, called with the following arguments:
18 1. The dir operand is used as the path argument.
20 2. The value of the bitwise-inclusive OR of S_IRWXU, S_IRWXG, and
22 S_IRWXO is used as the mode argument. (If the -m option is speci‐
23 fied, the mode option-argument overrides this default.)
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26 The mkdir utility shall conform to the Base Definitions volume of
27 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 12.2, Utility Syntax Guidelines.
28 The following options shall be supported:
30 -m mode
32 Set the file permission bits of the newly-created directory to
33 the specified mode value. The mode option-argument shall be the
34 same as the mode operand defined for the chmod utility. In the
35 symbolic_mode strings, the op characters '+' and '-' shall be
36 interpreted relative to an assumed initial mode of a= rwx; '+'
37 shall add permissions to the default mode, '-' shall delete per‐
38 missions from the default mode.
39 -p Create any missing intermediate pathname components.
41 For each dir operand that does not name an existing directory, effects
43 equivalent to those caused by the following command shall occur:
44 mkdir -p -m $(umask -S),u+wx $(dirname dir) &&
47 mkdir [-m mode] dir
48 where the -m mode option represents that option supplied to the origi‐
50 nal invocation of mkdir, if any.
51 Each dir operand that names an existing directory shall be ignored
53 without error.
54
57 The following operand shall be supported:
58 dir A pathname of a directory to be created.
60
63 Not used.
64
66 None.
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69 The following environment variables shall affect the execution of
70 mkdir:
71 LANG Provide a default value for the internationalization variables
73 that are unset or null. (See the Base Definitions volume of
74 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 8.2, Internationalization Vari‐
75 ables for the precedence of internationalization variables used
76 to determine the values of locale categories.)
77 LC_ALL If set to a non-empty string value, override the values of all
79 the other internationalization variables.
80 LC_CTYPE
82 Determine the locale for the interpretation of sequences of
83 bytes of text data as characters (for example, single-byte as
84 opposed to multi-byte characters in arguments).
85 LC_MESSAGES
87 Determine the locale that should be used to affect the format
88 and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error.
89 NLSPATH
91 Determine the location of message catalogs for the processing of
92 LC_MESSAGES .
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96 Default.
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99 Not used.
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102 The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.
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105 None.
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108 None.
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111 The following exit values shall be returned:
112 0 All the specified directories were created successfully or the
114 -p option was specified and all the specified directories now
115 exist.
116 >0 An error occurred.
118
121 Default.
122 The following sections are informative.
124
126 The default file mode for directories is a= rwx (777 on most systems)
127 with selected permissions removed in accordance with the file mode cre‐
128 ation mask. For intermediate pathname components created by mkdir, the
129 mode is the default modified by u+ wx so that the subdirectories can
130 always be created regardless of the file mode creation mask; if differ‐
131 ent ultimate permissions are desired for the intermediate directories,
132 they can be changed afterwards with chmod.
133 Note that some of the requested directories may have been created even
135 if an error occurs.
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138 None.
139
141 The System V -m option was included to control the file mode.
142 The System V -p option was included to create any needed intermediate
144 directories and to complement the functionality provided by rmdir for
145 removing directories in the path prefix as they become empty. Because
146 no error is produced if any path component already exists, the -p
147 option is also useful to ensure that a particular directory exists.
148 The functionality of mkdir is described substantially through a refer‐
150 ence to the mkdir() function in the System Interfaces volume of
151 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001. For example, by default, the mode of the direc‐
152 tory is affected by the file mode creation mask in accordance with the
153 specified behavior of the mkdir() function. In this way, there is less
154 duplication of effort required for describing details of the directory
155 creation.
156
158 None.
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161 chmod() , rm , rmdir() , umask() , the System Interfaces volume of
162 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, mkdir()
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165 Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
166 from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
167 -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
168 Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of
169 Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the
170 event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
171 The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
172 is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online
173 at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
174IEEE/The Open Group 2003 MKDIR(P)