12.5 mknod: Make block or character special files

mknod creates a FIFO, character special file, or block special file with the specified name. Synopsis:

mknod [option]... name type [major minor]

Unlike the phrase "special file type" above, the term special file has a technical meaning on Unix: something that can generate or receive data. Usually this corresponds to a physical piece of hardware, e.g., a printer or a disk. (These files are typically created at system-configuration time.) The mknod command is what creates files of this type. Such devices can be read either a character at a time or a "block" (many characters) at a time, hence we say there are block special files and character special files.

The arguments after name specify the type of file to make:

`p'

for a FIFO

`b'

for a block special file

`c'

for a character special file

When making a block or character special file, the major and minor device numbers must be given after the file type.

The program accepts the following option. Also see 2. Common options.

`-m mode'

`--mode=mode'

Set the mode of created files to mode, which is symbolic as in chmod and uses `a=rw' minus the bits set in the umask as the point of departure. See section 26. File permissions.