In Unix, how do I create a new directory?
To create a subdirectory in the home directory of your Unix
account, use the mkdir command. For example, to create a
subdirectory called work, at the Unix prompt from within
your home directory, enter:
mkdir work
The mkdir command requires at least one argument and will take
multiple arguments. To create three directories named
work, programs, and reports,
enter:
mkdir work programs reports
If you're currently in your home directory and you want to make a new
directory in another directory, you don't need to use the cd
command first. You may specify a pathname with the mkdir
command, for example:
mkdir bin/work
The mkdir command in conjunction with the
-p option creates the directories specified in a
path. This is very useful when you want to make a directory structure that
is several directories deep, and none of the subdirectories exist yet. For
example, the following command will create the work,
work/programs, work/programs/reports, and
work/programs/reports/completed subdirectories:
mkdir -p work/programs/reports/completed
Without the -p option, this command would have
returned an error.
For more information on the mkdir command, see the online
manual. At the Unix shell prompt, enter:
man mkdir
At Indiana University, for personal or departmental Linux or Unix systems support, see At IU, how do I get support for Linux or Unix?
Last modified on August 22, 2008.
