mkdir(P)                                               mkdir(P)





NAME
       mkdir - make directories

SYNOPSIS
       mkdir [-p][-m mode] dir...

DESCRIPTION
       The mkdir utility shall create the directories specified
       by the operands, in the order specified.

       For each dir operand, the mkdir  utility  shall  perform
       actions  equivalent  to  the mkdir() function defined in
       the System Interfaces  volume  of  IEEE Std 1003.1-2001,
       called with the following arguments:

       The dir operand is used as the path argument.

       The  value  of  the  bitwise-inclusive  OR  of  S_IRWXU,
       S_IRWXG, and S_IRWXO is used as the mode  argument.  (If
       the  -m  option  is  specified, the mode option-argument
       overrides this default.)

OPTIONS
       The mkdir utility shall conform to the Base  Definitions
       volume  of  IEEE Std 1003.1-2001,  Section 12.2, Utility
       Syntax Guidelines.

       The following options shall be supported:

       -m  mode
              Set the file permission bits of the newly-created
              directory  to  the specified mode value. The mode
              option-argument shall be the same as the mode op-
              erand  defined for the chmod utility. In the sym-
              bolic_mode strings, the op characters '+' and '-'
              shall  be interpreted relative to an assumed ini-
              tial mode of a= rwx; '+' shall add permissions to
              the  default  mode,  '-' shall delete permissions
              from the default mode.

       -p     Create any missing intermediate  pathname  compo-
              nents.

       For  each  dir  operand  that  does not name an existing
       directory, effects equivalent to  those  caused  by  the
       following command shall occur:


              mkdir -p -m $(umask -S),u+wx $(dirname dir) &&
              mkdir [-m mode] dir

       where the -m mode option represents that option supplied
       to the original invocation of mkdir, if any.

       Each dir operand that names an existing directory  shall
       be ignored without error.


OPERANDS
       The following operand shall be supported:

       dir    A pathname of a directory to be created.


STDIN
       Not used.

INPUT FILES
       None.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
       The  following  environment  variables  shall affect the
       execution of mkdir:

       LANG   Provide a default value for the internationaliza-
              tion  variables  that are unset or null. (See the
              Base Definitions volume of  IEEE Std 1003.1-2001,
              Section  8.2,  Internationalization Variables for
              the precedence of internationalization  variables
              used  to  determine  the  values  of locale cate-
              gories.)

       LC_ALL If set to a non-empty string value, override  the
              values  of  all  the  other  internationalization
              variables.

       LC_CTYPE
              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).

       LC_MESSAGES
              Determine  the  locale  that  should  be  used to
              affect the format and contents of diagnostic mes-
              sages written to standard error.

       NLSPATH
              Determine  the  location  of message catalogs for
              the processing of LC_MESSAGES .


ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS
       Default.

STDOUT
       Not used.

STDERR
       The standard error shall be  used  only  for  diagnostic
       messages.

OUTPUT FILES
       None.

EXTENDED DESCRIPTION
       None.

EXIT STATUS
       The following exit values shall be returned:

        0     All  the  specified directories were created suc-
              cessfully or the -p option was specified and  all
              the specified directories now exist.

       >0     An error occurred.


CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS
       Default.

       The following sections are informative.

APPLICATION USAGE
       The  default file mode for directories is a= rwx (777 on
       most  systems)  with  selected  permissions  removed  in
       accordance  with the file mode creation mask. For inter-
       mediate pathname components created by mkdir,  the  mode
       is the default modified by u+ wx so that the subdirecto-
       ries 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 chmod.

       Note  that  some  of  the requested directories may have
       been created even if an error occurs.

EXAMPLES
       None.

RATIONALE
       The System V -m option was included to control the  file
       mode.

       The System V -p option was included to create any needed
       intermediate directories and to complement the function-
       ality  provided by rmdir for removing directories in the
       path prefix as they become empty.  Because no  error  is
       produced  if  any  path component already exists, the -p
       option is also useful to ensure that a particular direc-
       tory exists.

       The  functionality  of  mkdir is described substantially
       through a reference to the mkdir() function in the  Sys-
       tem Interfaces volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001. For exam-
       ple, by default, the mode of the directory  is  affected
       by  the  file  mode creation mask in accordance with the
       specified behavior of the mkdir() function. In this way,
       there   is  less  duplication  of  effort  required  for
       describing details of the directory creation.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS
       None.

SEE ALSO
       chmod() , rm , rmdir() , umask() , the System Interfaces
       volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, mkdir()

COPYRIGHT
       Portions  of  this  text are reprinted and reproduced in
       electronic form from  IEEE  Std  1003.1,  2003  Edition,
       Standard  for Information Technology -- Portable Operat-
       ing System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Speci-
       fications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Insti-
       tute 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.open-
       group.org/unix/online.html .



POSIX                         2003                     mkdir(P)
