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mknod(2) System Calls Manual mknod(2) NAME mknod - Creates an FIFO or special file LIBRARY Standard C Library (libc.a) SYNOPSIS #include <sys/stat.h> int mknod ( const char *path, int mode, dev_t device ); STANDARDS Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry stan- dards as follows: mknod(): POSIX.1, XPG4-UNIX Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about in- dustry standards and associated tags. Standards: standards(5) PARAMETERS Names the new file. If the final component of the path parameter names a symbolic link, the link will be traversed and pathname resolution will continue. Specifies the file type, attributes, and access permis- sions. This parameter is constructed by logically ORing values de- scribed in the sys/mode.h header file. Depends upon the configuration and is used only if the mode parameter specifies a block or character special file. If the file you specify is a remote file, the value of the device parameter must be meaningful on the node where the file re- sides. DESCRIPTION The mknod() function creates a special file or FIFO. Using the mknod() function to create file types other than FIFO special requires supe- ruser privilege. For the mknod() function to complete successfully, a process must have search permission and write permission in the parent directory of the path parameter. The new file has the following characteristics: File type as specified by the mode parameter. Owner ID set to the process effective user ID. Group ID set to the group ID of its parent directory. Permission and attribute bits set according to the value of the mode parameter. All bits set in the process file mode creation mask are cleared. See the umask() function. RETURN VALUES Upon successful completion of the mknod() function a value of 0 (zero) is returned. Otherwise, a value of -1 is returned and errno is set to indicate the error. ERRORS If the mknod() function fails, the new file is not created and errno may be set to one of the following values: A component of the path pre- fix denies search permission, or write permission is denied on the par- ent directory of the FIFO to be created. The directory in which the entry for the new link is being placed cannot be extended because the user's quota of disk blocks or inodes on the file system is exhausted. The named file exists. While accessing the file system, an I/O error occurred. An invalid argument has been specified. The length of the path parameter exceeds PATH_MAX or a pathname component is longer than NAME_MAX. A component of the path prefix does not exist or the path parameter points to an empty string. The directory that would contain the new file cannot be extended or the file system is out of file allo- cation resources. A component of the path prefix is not a directory. The mode parameter specifies a file type other than FIFO and the call- ing process does not have the sufficient privilege. The directory in which the file is to be created is located on a read-only file system. RELATED INFORMATION Functions: chmod(2), mkdir(2), open(2), umask(2), stat(2) Commands: chmod(1), mkdir(1) Standards: standards(5) delim off mknod(2)