mknod

creates a FIFO, character special file, or block special file with the specified name.

SYNTAX
      mknod [OPTION]... NAME TYPE [MAJOR MINOR]

OPTIONS

The arguments after NAME specify the type of file to make:

  `p'     for a FIFO

  `b'     for a block special file

  `c'     for a character special file

When making a block or character special file, the major and minor
device numbers must be given after the file type.

The program accepts the following option.

`-m MODE'
`--mode=MODE'
     Set the mode of created files to MODE, which is symbolic as in
     `chmod' and uses 0666 minus the bits set in the umask as the point
     of departure.

Unlike the phrase "special file type" above, the term "special file" has a technical meaning on Unix: something that can generate or receive data. Usually this corresponds to a physical piece of hardware, e.g., a printer or a disk. (These files are typically created at system-configuration time.) The `mknod' command is what creates files of this type. Such devices can be read either a character at a time or a "block" (many characters) at a time, hence we say there are "block special" files and "character special" files.

Related commands:

mkfifo - Make FIFOs (named pipes)
sed - Stream Editor