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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:

        1. The dir operand is used as the path argument.

        2. 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 operand defined for the chmod utility. In the
              symbolic_mode strings, the op characters ’+’ and  ’-’  shall  be
              interpreted  relative  to an assumed initial mode of a= rwx; ’+’
              shall add permissions to the  default  mode,  ’-’  shall  delete
              permissions from the default mode.

       -p     Create any missing intermediate pathname components.

       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 internationalization 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 categories.)

       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 messages 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 successfully  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 intermediate pathname components created  by  mkdir,
       the  mode  is  the default modified by u+ 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 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 functionality 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 directory exists.

       The  functionality  of  mkdir  is  described  substantially  through  a
       reference to the mkdir() function in the System  Interfaces  volume  of
       IEEE Std 1003.1-2001.   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 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 Operating System Interface (POSIX),  The  Open  Group  Base
       Specifications  Issue  6,  Copyright  (C) 2001-2003 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 .