NAME

mknod − build special file

SYNOPSIS

/etc/mknod name c │ b 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.  In the first case, the second 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), which may be either decimal or octal. 

The assignment of major device numbers is specific to each system.  They have to be dug out of the system source file conf.c. 

Mknod can also be used to create fifo’s (a.k.a named pipes) (second case in SYNOPSIS above). 

EXAMPLE

mknod /dev/tty4 c 3 4

would create file /dev/tty4 as a character special device with major number 3 and minor number 4. 

SEE ALSO

mknod(2). 

Version 2.3  —  July 04, 1985