'\" et
.TH MKDIR "1P" 2017 "IEEE/The Open Group" "POSIX Programmer's Manual"
.\"
.SH 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.
.\"
.SH NAME
mkdir
\(em make directories
.SH SYNOPSIS
.LP
.nf
mkdir \fB[\fR-p\fB] [\fR-m \fImode\fB] \fIdir\fR...
.fi
.SH DESCRIPTION
The
.IR mkdir
utility shall create the directories specified by the operands, in the
order specified.
.P
For each
.IR dir
operand, the
.IR mkdir
utility shall perform actions equivalent to the
\fImkdir\fR()
function defined in the System Interfaces volume of POSIX.1\(hy2017, called with the following arguments:
.IP " 1." 4
The
.IR dir
operand is used as the
.IR path
argument.
.IP " 2." 4
The value of the bitwise-inclusive OR of S_IRWXU, S_IRWXG, and S_IRWXO
is used as the
.IR mode
argument. (If the
.BR \-m
option is specified, the value of the
\fImkdir\fR()
.IR mode
argument is unspecified, but the directory shall at no time
have permissions less restrictive than the
.BR \-m
.IR mode
option-argument.)
.SH OPTIONS
The
.IR mkdir
utility shall conform to the Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1\(hy2017,
.IR "Section 12.2" ", " "Utility Syntax Guidelines".
.P
The following options shall be supported:
.IP "\fB\-m\ \fImode\fR" 10
Set the file permission bits of the newly-created directory to the
specified
.IR mode
value. The
.IR mode
option-argument shall be the same as the
.IR mode
operand defined for the
.IR chmod
utility. In the
.IR symbolic_mode
strings, the
.IR op
characters
.BR '\(pl' 
and
.BR '\-' 
shall be interpreted relative to an assumed initial mode of
.IR a =\c
.IR rwx ;
.BR '\(pl' 
shall add permissions to the default mode,
.BR '\-' 
shall delete permissions from the default mode.
.IP "\fB\-p\fP" 10
Create any missing intermediate pathname components.
.RS 10 
.P
For each
.IR dir
operand that does not name an existing directory, before performing the
actions described in the DESCRIPTION above, the
.IR mkdir
utility shall create any pathname components of the path prefix of
.IR dir
that do not name an existing directory by performing actions equivalent
to first calling the
\fImkdir\fR()
function with the following arguments:
.IP " 1." 4
A pathname naming the missing pathname component, ending with a trailing
<slash>
character, as the
.IR path
argument
.IP " 2." 4
The value zero as the
.IR mode
argument
.P
and then calling the
\fIchmod\fR()
function with the following arguments:
.IP " 1." 4
The same
.IR path
argument as in the
\fImkdir\fR()
call
.IP " 2." 4
The value
.IR "(S_IWUSR|S_IXUSR|\(ti\fIfilemask\fP)&0777" \fR
as the
.IR mode
argument, where
.IR filemask
is the file mode creation mask of the process (see the System Interfaces volume of POSIX.1\(hy2017,
.IR "\fIumask\fR\^(\|)")
.P
Each
.IR dir
operand that names an existing directory shall be ignored without
error.
.RE
.SH OPERANDS
The following operand shall be supported:
.IP "\fIdir\fR" 10
A pathname of a directory to be created.
.SH STDIN
Not used.
.SH "INPUT FILES"
None.
.SH "ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES"
The following environment variables shall affect the execution of
.IR mkdir :
.IP "\fILANG\fP" 10
Provide a default value for the internationalization variables that are
unset or null. (See the Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1\(hy2017,
.IR "Section 8.2" ", " "Internationalization Variables"
for the precedence of internationalization variables used to determine
the values of locale categories.)
.IP "\fILC_ALL\fP" 10
If set to a non-empty string value, override the values of all the
other internationalization variables.
.IP "\fILC_CTYPE\fP" 10
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).
.IP "\fILC_MESSAGES\fP" 10
.br
Determine the locale that should be used to affect the format and
contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error.
.IP "\fINLSPATH\fP" 10
Determine the location of message catalogs for the processing of
.IR LC_MESSAGES .
.SH "ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS"
Default.
.SH STDOUT
Not used.
.SH STDERR
The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.
.SH "OUTPUT FILES"
None.
.SH "EXTENDED DESCRIPTION"
None.
.SH "EXIT STATUS"
The following exit values shall be returned:
.IP "\00" 6
All the specified directories were created successfully, or the
.BR \-p
option was specified and all the specified directories either already
existed or were created successfully.
.IP >0 6
An error occurred.
.SH "CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS"
Default.
.LP
.IR "The following sections are informative."
.SH "APPLICATION USAGE"
The default file mode for directories is
.IR a =\c
.IR rwx
(777 on most systems) with selected permissions removed in accordance
with the file mode creation mask. For intermediate pathname components
created by
.IR mkdir ,
the mode is the default modified by
.IR u +\c
.IR 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
.IR chmod .
.P
Note that some of the requested directories may have been created even
if an error occurs.
.SH EXAMPLES
None.
.SH RATIONALE
The System V
.BR \-m
option was included to control the file mode.
.P
The System V
.BR \-p
option was included to create any needed intermediate directories and
to complement the functionality provided by
.IR rmdir
for removing directories in the path prefix as they become empty.
Because no error is produced if any path component already exists, the
.BR \-p
option is also useful to ensure that a particular directory exists.
.P
The functionality of
.IR mkdir
is described substantially through a reference to the
\fImkdir\fR()
function in the System Interfaces volume of POSIX.1\(hy2017. 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
\fImkdir\fR()
function. In this way, there is less duplication of effort required for
describing details of the directory creation.
.SH "FUTURE DIRECTIONS"
None.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.IR "\fIchmod\fR\^",
.IR "\fIrm\fR\^",
.IR "\fIrmdir\fR\^",
.IR "\fIumask\fR\^"
.P
The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1\(hy2017,
.IR "Chapter 8" ", " "Environment Variables",
.IR "Section 12.2" ", " "Utility Syntax Guidelines"
.P
The System Interfaces volume of POSIX.1\(hy2017,
.IR "\fImkdir\fR\^(\|)",
.IR "\fIumask\fR\^(\|)"
.\"
.SH 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 .
.PP
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 .