Gnu/coreutils/mkdir-invocation

Next: mkfifo invocation, Previous: ln invocation, Up: Special file types   [Contents][Index]

12.3 mkdir: Make directories

mkdir creates directories with the specified names. Synopsis:

mkdir [option]… name…

mkdir creates each directory name in the order given. It reports an error if name already exists, unless the -p option is given and name is a directory.

The program accepts the following options. Also see Common options.

‘-m mode’
‘--mode=mode’

Set the file permission bits of created directories to mode, which uses the same syntax as in chmod and uses ‘a=rwx’ (read, write and execute allowed for everyone) for the point of the departure. See File permissions.

Normally the directory has the desired file mode bits at the moment it is created. As a GNU extension, mode may also mention special mode bits, but in this case there may be a temporary window during which the directory exists but its special mode bits are incorrect. See Directory Setuid and Setgid, for how the set-user-ID and set-group-ID bits of directories are inherited unless overridden in this way.

‘-p’
‘--parents’

Make any missing parent directories for each argument, setting their file permission bits to the umask modified by ‘u+wx’. Ignore existing parent directories, and do not change their file permission bits.

To set the file permission bits of any newly-created parent directories to a value that includes ‘u+wx’, you can set the umask before invoking mkdir. For example, if the shell command ‘(umask u=rwx,go=rx; mkdir -p P/Q)’ creates the parent P it sets the parent’s permission bits to ‘u=rwx,go=rx’. To set a parent’s special mode bits as well, you can invoke chmod after mkdir. See Directory Setuid and Setgid, for how the set-user-ID and set-group-ID bits of newly-created parent directories are inherited.

‘-v’
‘--verbose’

Print a message for each created directory. This is most useful with --parents.

‘-Z’
‘--context[=context]’

Without a specified context, adjust the SELinux security context according to the system default type for destination files, similarly to the restorecon command. The long form of this option with a specific context specified, will set the context for newly created files only. With a specified context, if both SELinux and SMACK are disabled, a warning is issued.

An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value indicates failure.

Next: mkfifo invocation, Previous: ln invocation, Up: Special file types   [Contents][Index]