MKFIFO(P) POSIX Programmer's Manual MKFIFO(P)
NAME
mkfifo - make a FIFO special file
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/stat.h>
int mkfifo(const char *path, mode_t mode);
DESCRIPTION
The mkfifo() function shall create a new FIFO special file named by the pathname pointed to by path. The file permission bits of the new
FIFO shall be initialized from mode. The file permission bits of the mode argument shall be modified by the process' file creation mask.
When bits in mode other than the file permission bits are set, the effect is implementation-defined.
If path names a symbolic link, mkfifo() shall fail and set errno to [EEXIST].
The FIFO's user ID shall be set to the process' effective user ID. The FIFO's group ID shall be set to the group ID of the parent direc-
tory or to the effective group ID of the process. Implementations shall provide a way to initialize the FIFO's group ID to the group ID of
the parent directory. Implementations may, but need not, provide an implementation-defined way to initialize the FIFO's group ID to the
effective group ID of the calling process.
Upon successful completion, mkfifo() shall mark for update the st_atime, st_ctime, and st_mtime fields of the file. Also, the st_ctime and
st_mtime fields of the directory that contains the new entry shall be marked for update.
RETURN VALUE
Upon successful completion, 0 shall be returned. Otherwise, -1 shall be returned, no FIFO shall be created, and errno shall be set to indi-
cate the error.
ERRORS
The mkfifo() function shall fail if:
EACCES A component of the path prefix denies search permission, or write permission is denied on the parent directory of the FIFO to be
created.
EEXIST The named file already exists.
ELOOP A loop exists in symbolic links encountered during resolution of the path argument.
ENAMETOOLONG
The length of the path argument exceeds {PATH_MAX} or a pathname component is longer than {NAME_MAX}.
ENOENT A component of the path prefix specified by path does not name an existing directory or path is an empty string.
ENOSPC The directory that would contain the new file cannot be extended or the file system is out of file-allocation resources.
ENOTDIR
A component of the path prefix is not a directory.
EROFS The named file resides on a read-only file system.
The mkfifo() function may fail if:
ELOOP More than {SYMLOOP_MAX} symbolic links were encountered during resolution of the path argument.
ENAMETOOLONG
As a result of encountering a symbolic link in resolution of the path argument, the length of the substituted pathname string
exceeded {PATH_MAX}.
The following sections are informative.
EXAMPLES
Creating a FIFO File
The following example shows how to create a FIFO file named /home/cnd/mod_done, with read/write permissions for owner, and with read per-
missions for group and others.
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
int status;
...
status = mkfifo("/home/cnd/mod_done", S_IWUSR | S_IRUSR |
S_IRGRP | S_IROTH);
APPLICATION USAGE
None.
RATIONALE
The syntax of this function is intended to maintain compatibility with historical implementations of mknod(). The latter function was
included in the 1984 /usr/group standard but only for use in creating FIFO special files. The mknod() function was originally excluded from
the POSIX.1-1988 standard as implementation-defined and replaced by mkdir() and mkfifo(). The mknod() function is now included for align-
ment with the Single UNIX Specification.
The POSIX.1-1990 standard required that the group ID of a newly created FIFO be set to the group ID of its parent directory or to the
effective group ID of the creating process. FIPS 151-2 required that implementations provide a way to have the group ID be set to the group
ID of the containing directory, but did not prohibit implementations also supporting a way to set the group ID to the effective group ID of
the creating process. Conforming applications should not assume which group ID will be used. If it matters, an application can use chown()
to set the group ID after the FIFO is created, or determine under what conditions the implementation will set the desired group ID.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
None.
SEE ALSO
umask() , the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <sys/stat.h>, <sys/types.h>
COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technol-
ogy -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE
and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained
online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
IEEE
/The Open Group 2003 MKFIFO(P)