mkdir(1) — Commands
NAME
mkdir − Makes a directory
SYNOPSIS
mkdir [-m mode] [-p] directory ...
STANDARDS
Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards as follows:
mkdir: XPG4, XPG4−UNIX
Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about industry standards and associated tags.
FLAGS
-m modeSets the file permissions to mode, a symbolic mode string as defined for chmod, after creating the specified directory. The mode argument can be either an absolute mode string or a symbolic mode string as defined for chmod. See the chmod(1) reference page.
In symbolic mode strings, the operation characters + and - are interpreted relative to an assumed initial mode of a=rwx, A + adds permissions to the default mode, whereas a - deletes permissions from the default mode.
-pCreates intermediate directories as necessary; otherwise, the full path name prefix to directory must already exist. The user must have mkdir write permission in the parent directory.
Each component of directory that does not name an existing directory is created with mode 777, modified by the current file mode creation mask (umask). The equivalent of chmod u+wx is performed on each component to ensure that mkdir can create lower directories regardless of the setting of umask. Each component of directory that names an existing directory is ignored without error, except for the last component. If an intermediate path name component exists, but permissions are set to prevent writing or searching, mkdir fails and returns an error message. The mode argument does not apply to any intermediate directories created when the -p flag is specified.
PARAMETERS
directoryThe path name of the directory to be created.
DESCRIPTION
The mkdir command creates new directories with read, write, and execute permissions based upon the permissions established by the umask setting.
[Digital] The mkdir command also creates the standard entries . (dot) for the directory itself and .. (dot dot) for its parent.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The following environment variables affect the execution of mkdir:
LANGProvides a default value for the internationalization variables that are unset or null. If LANG is unset or null, the corresponding value from the default locale is used. If any of the internationalization variables contain an invalid setting, the utility behaves as if none of the variables had been defined.
LC_ALLIf set to a non-empty string value, overrides the values of all the other internationalization variables.
LC_CTYPEDetermines the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes of text data as characters (for example, single-byte as opposed to multibyte characters in arguments).
LC_MESSAGESDetermines the locale for the format and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error.
NLSPATHDetermines the location of message catalogues for the processing of LC_MESSAGES.
NOTES
1.Some of the requested directories may be created although an error occurs subsequent to the directory creation.
2.If the directory specified by the -p flag already exists, the command fails with a message to the user, but does not return an error status, in compliance with POSIX.2.
3.[Digital] To make a new directory, you must have write permission in the parent directory.
EXAMPLES
1.To create a new directory called test, enter:
mkdir test
2.To set file permissions for new directory test in absolute mode, enter:
mkdir -m 444 test
3.To set file permissions for new directory test in symbolic mode, enter:
mkdir -m+rw test
EXIT VALUES
The following exit values are returned:
0All requested directories were created, or the -p option was used and all of the requested directories now exist.
>0An error occurred
RELATED INFORMATION
Commands: chmod(1), rm(1), rmdir(1), Bourne shell sh(1b), POSIX shell sh(1p), umask(1)