Make directories (POSIX)
mkdir [-m mode] [-p] dir...
- -m mode
- When creating the directory, set the permission bits of the new
directory to the specified mode value.
The mode argument is a symbolic_mode string, as defined for the chmod utility. In the symbolic_mode strings, the op characters + and - are interpreted relative to the default file mode for that file type:
- Add permissions to the default mode.
- Delete permissions from the default mode.
- Assign permissions.
- Create any missing intermediate pathname components.
- A pathname at which a directory is to be created.
If you specify both the -p and -m options, any intermediate directories you have created have mode u+wx.
The mkdir utility creates the directories specified by the dir operands, in the order the dir operands are specified.
To create a directory, you must have write permission on the parent directory, or be root.
The default file mode for directories is a=rwx (777), 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 you want to assign different ultimate permissions for the intermediate directories, you can do so with the chmod utility.
When using -p with -m, each intermediate directory that doesn't exist is created with u+wx modes, regardless of the file mode creation mask. The specified mode applies only to the last directory specified. For example:
mkdir -p -m 777 dir/dir1/dir2
gives dir and dir1 the default permissions for intermediate directories (i.e. u+wx). The directory dir2 is given a+rwx permission.
Create a directory named /home/debbie:
- All the specified directories were created successfully, or the -p option was specified and all the specified directories now exist.
- An error occurred.
If the mkdir utility is terminated by a signal, some of the specified directories may have already been created.