MKNOD(1M)                            SysV                            MKNOD(1M)



NAME
     mknod - create a special file

SYNOPSIS
     /etc/mknod name b | c major minor
     /etc/mknod name p

DESCRIPTION
     mknod makes a directory entry and corresponding i-node for a special
     file.

     The first argument is the name of the entry. These files are kept in the
     /dev directory by convention.

     In the first case, the second argument is b if the special file is
     block-type (disks, tape) or c if it is character-type (other devices).
     The last two arguments are numbers specifying the major device type and
     the minor device (e.g., unit, drive, or line number).  These may be
     specified in either decimal or octal.  You must be the super-user to use
     this form of the command.

     The major device number given must correspond to a trait manager for the
     device.  The mkdevno(1M) command creates a mapping between a major device
     number and a trait manager; this mapping must exist before a device node
     is created.  Minor device numbers may be arbitrarily chosen, except that
     the minor number for a cloneable STREAMS device must be 256 decimal or
     higher (see clone(7)).

     The second case is the form of the mknod that is used to create FIFO's
     (also known as named pipes).

     mknodx is a variation of mknod.  This command is used by Apollo system
     administrators, and should not be deleted.

NOTE
     If, under implementations supporting Remote File Sharing (RFS), mknod is
     used to create a device in a remote directory, the major and minor device
     numbers are interpreted by the server.

SEE ALSO
     mkdev(1M), mkdevno(1M), mknod(2), clone(7)