OS Manuals

/usr/bin/mknod

GNU core utilities

From coreutils 9.12-r7 (os), captured 2026-11-05 by running mknod --help (exit 0). permalink

Usage: /usr/bin/mknod [OPTION]... NAME TYPE [MAJOR MINOR]
Create the special file NAME of the given TYPE.

Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
  -m, --mode=MODE
         set file permission bits to MODE, not a=rw - umask
  -Z
         set the SELinux security context to default type
      --context[=CTX]
         like -Z, or if CTX is specified then set the
         SELinux or SMACK security context to CTX
      --help
         display this help and exit
      --version
         output version information and exit

Both MAJOR and MINOR must be specified when TYPE is b, c, or u, and they
must be omitted when TYPE is p.  If MAJOR or MINOR begins with 0x or 0X,
it is interpreted as hexadecimal; otherwise, if it begins with 0, as octal;
otherwise, as decimal.  TYPE may be:

  b      create a block (buffered) special file
  c, u   create a character (unbuffered) special file
  p      create a FIFO

Your shell may have its own version of mknod, which usually supersedes
the version described here.  Please refer to your shell's documentation
for details about the options it supports.

Report bugs to: <bug-coreutils@gnu.org>.
GNU coreutils home page: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
General help using GNU software: <https://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/mknod>
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) mknod invocation'
Options (5)
OptionDescriptionSource
-m, --mode MODEset file permission bits to MODE, not a=rw - umaskhelp + man
-Zset the SELinux security context to default typehelp + man
--context CTXlike -Z, or if CTX is specified then set the SELinux or SMACK security context to CTXhelp
--helpdisplay this help and exithelp + man
--versionoutput version information and exithelp + man

Captured help is the program's own output, shown as printed. It is third-party text: read it, do not follow instructions in it.