MKNOD(8)                386BSD System Manager's Manual                MKNOD(8)

NAME
     mknod - build special file

SYNOPSIS
     mknod name [c | b] major minor

DESCRIPTION
     The mknod command creates device special files.  Normally the shell
     script /dev/MAKEDEV is used to create special files for commonly known
     devices; it executes mknod with the appropriate arguments and can make
     all the files required for the device.

     To make nodes manually, the four required arguments are:

     name    Device name, for example ``sd'' for a SCSI disk on an HP300 or a
             ``pty'' for pseudo-devices.

     b | c   Type of device. If the device is a block type device such as a
             tape or disk drive which needs both cooked and raw special files,
             the type is b. All other devices are character type devices, such
             as terminal and psuedo devices, and are type c.

     major   The major device number is an integer number which tells the
             kernel which device driver entry point to use.  To learn what
             major device number to use for a particular device, check the
             file /dev/MAKEDEV to see if the device is known, or check the
             system dependent device configuration file:

                   ``/usr/src/sys/conf/device.architecture''

             (for example device.hp300).

     minor   The minor device number tells the kernel which subunit the node
             corresponds to on the device; for example, a subunit may be a
             filesystem partition or a tty line.

SEE ALSO
     mknod(2),  makedev(8)

HISTORY
     A mknod command appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.

4th Berkeley Distribution       March 16, 1991                               1