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This page displays the COHERENT manpage for mknod [Make a special file or named pipe].
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mknod -- Command Make a special file or named pipe /etc/mknod [ -f ] filename type major minor /etc/mknod [ -f ] filename p In the first form, mknod creates a special file, which provides access to a device by the filename specified. Special files are conventionally stored in the /dev directory. type can be either `b' (for block-special file) or `c' (for character- special file). Block-special files tend to be devices such as disks or magnetic tape, upon which COHERENT uses an elaborate buffering strategy. Character-special files are unstructured (character at a time) devices such as terminals, line printers, or communications devices. Character-special files may also be random-access devices; this circumvents system buffering, allowing transfers of arbitrary size directly between the user and the hardware. The major device number uniquely identifies a device driver to COHERENT. The minor device number is a parameter interpreted by the driver; it might specify the channel of a multiplexor or the unit number of a drive. The caller must be the superuser. In the second form, mknod creates a named pipe with the given filename. Named pipes can be used for communication between processes. The -f option to mknod forces the creation of a new node, even if one of the same name already exists. Files /dev/* See Also commands, mount