.TH MKNOD 1L \" -*- nroff -*-
.SH NAME
mknod \- make special files
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B mknod
[\-m mode] [\-\-mode=mode] path {bcu} major minor
.br
.B mknod
[\-m mode] [\-\-mode=mode] path p
.SH DESCRIPTION
This manual page
documents the GNU version of
.BR mknod .
.B mknod
creates a FIFO, character special file, or block special file
with the given pathname.  By default, the mode of
created files is 0666 minus the bits set in the umask.
.PP
The argument after the path specifies the type of file to make:
.nf
p for a FIFO
b for a block (buffered) special file
c or u for a character (unbuffered) special file
.fi
.PP
When making a block or character special file, the major and minor
device numbers must be given after the file type.
.SS OPTIONS
.TP
.I "\-m, \-\-mode mode"
Set the mode of created files to
.IR mode ,
which is symbolic as in chmod and uses the default mode as the point of
departure.
.PP
The long-named options can be introduced with `+' as well as `\-\-',
for compatibility with previous releases.  Eventually support for `+'
will be removed, because it is incompatible with the POSIX.2 standard.