mknod()

Make a new filesystem entry point

Synopsis:

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>

int mknod( const char * path,
           mode_t mode,
           dev_t dev );

Library:

libc

Description:

The mknod() makes a file, named path, using the filetype encoded in the mode argument. Supported filetypes are directories and FIFOs. For POSIX portability the mkdir() and mkfifo() functions should be used instead.

This function is included to enhance portability with software written for Unix-compatible operating systems. The dev argument is ignored.

To make a directory with read-write-execute permissions for everyone, you could use the following:

mknod (name, S_IFDIR|0777,0);

Returns:

0

Success.

-1

An error occurred (errno is set).

Errors:

EACCES

A component of the path prefix denies search permission, or write permission is denied for the parent directory.

EEXIST

The named file already exists.

ELOOP

Too many levels of symbolic links or prefixes.

EMLINK

The link count of the parent directory would exceed LINK_MAX.

ENAMETOOLONG

The length of the path string exceeds PATH_MAX, or a pathname component is longer than NAME_MAX.

ENOENT

A component of the path prefix doesn't exist, or the path arguments points to an empty string.

ENOSPC

The directory that would contain the new file cannot be extended or the filesystem is out of file allocation resources (that is, the disk is full).

ENOSYS

The mknod() function isn't implemented for the filesystem specified in path.

ENOTDIR

A component of the path prefix isn't a directory.

EROFS

The named file resides on a read-only filesystem.

Examples:

/*
 * Create special files as a directory or FIFO
 */
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#include <unistd.h>

int main( int argc, char** argv )
  {
    int c;
    mode_t mode = 0666;
    int ecode = 0;

    if( argc == 1 ) {
      printf( "Use: %s [-d directory] ... [-f fifo] ... \n",
          argv[1] );
      return( 0 );
    }

    while(( c = getopt( argc, argv, "d:f:" )) != -1 ) {
      switch( c ) {
        case 'd': mode = S_IFDIR | 0666; break;
        case 'f': mode = S_IFIFO | 0666; break;
      }

      if( mknod( optarg, mode, 0 ) != 0 ) {
        perror( optarg );
        ++ecode;
      }
    }

    return( ecode );
  }

Classification:

Standard Unix

See also:

errno, mkdir(), mkfifo()