MKTEMP(1) User Commands MKTEMP(1)

# [NAME](#NAME)

mktemp - create a temporary file or directory

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

**mktemp** \[*OPTION*]... \[*TEMPLATE*]

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

Create a temporary file or directory, safely, and print its name. TEMPLATE must contain at least 3 consecutive 'X's in last component. If TEMPLATE is not specified, use tmp.XXXXXXXXXX, and **--tmpdir** is implied. Files are created u+rw, and directories u+rwx, minus umask restrictions.

[**-d, --directory**](#d,)

create a directory, not a file

[**-u, --dry-run**](#u,)

do not create anything; merely print a name (unsafe)

[**-q, --quiet**](#q,)

suppress diagnostics about file/dir-creation failure

[**--suffix=SUFF**](#suffix=SUFF)

append SUFF to TEMPLATE; SUFF must not contain a slash. This option is implied if TEMPLATE does not end in X

[**-p DIR, --tmpdir\[=DIR\]**](#p)

interpret TEMPLATE relative to DIR; if DIR is not specified, use $TMPDIR if set, else */tmp*. With this option, TEMPLATE must not be an absolute name; unlike with **-t**, TEMPLATE may contain slashes, but mktemp creates only the final component

[**-t**](#t)

interpret TEMPLATE as a single file name component, relative to a directory: $TMPDIR, if set; else the directory specified via **-p**; else */tmp* \[deprecated]

[**--help**](#help)

display this help and exit

[**--version**](#version)

output version information and exit

# [AUTHOR](#AUTHOR)

Written by Jim Meyering and Eric Blake.

# [REPORTING BUGS](#REPORTING_BUGS)

Report bugs to: <bug-coreutils@gnu.org>.  
Report any translation bugs to: <https://translationproject.org/team/>.  
GNU coreutils home page: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>  
General help using GNU software: <https://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>

# [COPYRIGHT](#COPYRIGHT)

Copyright © 2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.  
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

[**mkstemp**(3)](/man/os/coreutils/mkstemp.3), [**mkdtemp**(3)](/man/os/coreutils/mkdtemp.3), [**mktemp**(3)](/man/os/coreutils/mktemp.3)

Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/mktemp>  
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) mktemp invocation'

October 2026 GNU coreutils 9.12

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Document: mktemp(1) from coreutils 9.12-r4 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/coreutils.git