mknod(8) [osx man page]

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

NAME

     mknod -- make device special file

SYNOPSIS

     mknod [-F format] name [c | b] major minor
     mknod [-F format] name [c | b] major unit subunit
     mknod name [c | b] number
     mknod name w

DESCRIPTION

     The mknod command creates device special files.

     To make nodes manually, the required arguments are:

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

     b | c | w
	     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.  Whiteout nodes are type w.  All other devices are character type devices, such as terminal and pseudo 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.

     minor   The minor device number tells the kernel which one of several similar devices the node corresponds to; for example, it may be a spe-
	     cific serial port or pty.

     unit and subunit
	     The unit and subunit numbers select a subset of a device; for example, the unit may specify a particular SCSI disk, and the subunit a
	     partition on that disk.  (Currently this form of specification is only supported by the bsdos format, for compatibility with the
	     BSD/OS mknod(8).)

     Device numbers for different operating systems may be packed in a different format.  To create device nodes that may be used by such an oper-
     ating system (e.g. in an exported file system used for netbooting), the -F option is used.  The following formats are recognized: native,
     386bsd, 4bsd, bsdos, freebsd, hpux, isc, linux, netbsd, osf1, sco, solaris, sunos, svr3, svr4 and ultrix.

     Alternatively, a single opaque device number may be specified.

SEE ALSO

     mkfifo(1), mkfifo(2), mknod(2)

HISTORY

     A mknod command appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.  The -F option appeared in NetBSD 1.4.

NetBSD 1.4							September 11, 1998							NetBSD 1.4

mknod(1M)																 mknod(1M)

NAME

       mknod - create special files

SYNOPSIS

       name major minor

       name major minor

       name

DESCRIPTION

       The command creates the following types of files:

	      o  Character device special file (first form),
	      o  Block device special file (second form),
	      o  FIFO file, sometimes called a named pipe (third form).

       name  is  the  path  name  of the file to be created.  The newly created file has a default mode that is readable and writable by all users(0666), but the mode is modified by the current setting of the user's file mode creation mask (see umask(1)).

   Character and Block Special Files
       Character device special files are used for devices that can transfer single bytes at a time, such  as  nine-track  magnetic  tape  drives,
       printers, plotters, disk drives operating in "raw" mode, and terminals.	To create a character special file, use the argument.

       Block  device  special  files are used for devices that usually transfer a block of data at a time, such as disk drives.  To create a block
       device special file, use the argument.

       The remaining arguments specify the device that will be accessible through the new special file:

	      major	The major number specifies the major device type (for example, the device driver number).

	      minor	The minor number specifies the device location, which is typically, but not always, the unit, drive, and/or line number.

       The major and minor values can each be specified in hexadecimal, octal, or decimal, using C language conventions (decimal: no leading zero;
       octal: leading zero; hexadecimal: leading

       The assignment of major and minor device numbers is specific to each HP-UX system.  Refer to the System Administrator manuals supplied with
       your system for details.

       Only users who have appropriate privileges can use to create a character or block device special file.

   FIFO files
       To create a FIFO (named pipe or buffer) file, use the argument.	You can also use the command for this purpose (see mkfifo(1)).	All  users
       can use to create FIFO files.

WARNINGS

   Access Control Lists
       In  HFS	file  systems, optional ACL entries can be added to special files and FIFOs with the command (see chacl(1)).  In JFS file systems,
       optional ACL entries can be added to special files and FIFOs with the command (see setacl(1)).  However,  system  programs  are	likely	to
       silently change or eliminate the optional ACL entries for these files.

SEE ALSO

       chacl(1), mkdir(1), mkfifo(1), setacl(1), umask(1), lsdev(1M), sam(1M), mknod(2), acl(5), aclv(5), mknod(5).

       HP-UX System Administrator manuals

STANDARDS CONFORMANCE

       mknod: SVID2, SVID3, XPG2

																	 mknod(1M)