mkfifo(3) Library Functions Manual mkfifo(3)
NAME
mkfifo, mkfifoat - make a FIFO special file (a named pipe)
LIBRARY
Standard C library (libc, -lc)
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
int mkfifo(const char *pathname, mode_t mode);
#include <fcntl.h> /* Definition of AT_* constants */
#include <sys/stat.h>
int mkfifoat(int dirfd, const char *pathname, mode_t mode);
Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see feature_test_macros(7)):
mkfifoat():
Since glibc 2.10:
_POSIX_C_SOURCE >= 200809L
Before glibc 2.10:
_ATFILE_SOURCE
DESCRIPTION
mkfifo() makes a FIFO special file with name pathname. mode specifies
the FIFO's permissions. It is modified by the process's umask in the
usual way: the permissions of the created file are (mode & ~umask).
A FIFO special file is similar to a pipe, except that it is created in a
different way. Instead of being an anonymous communications channel, a
FIFO special file is entered into the filesystem by calling mkfifo().
Once you have created a FIFO special file in this way, any process can
open it for reading or writing, in the same way as an ordinary file.
However, it has to be open at both ends simultaneously before you can
proceed to do any input or output operations on it. Opening a FIFO for
reading normally blocks until some other process opens the same FIFO for
writing, and vice versa. See fifo(7) for nonblocking handling of FIFO
special files.
mkfifoat()
The mkfifoat() function operates in exactly the same way as mkfifo(),
except for the differences described here.
If the pathname given in pathname is relative, then it is interpreted
relative to the directory referred to by the file descriptor dirfd
(rather than relative to the current working directory of the calling
process, as is done by mkfifo() for a relative pathname).
If pathname is relative and dirfd is the special value AT_FDCWD, then
pathname is interpreted relative to the current working directory of the
calling process (like mkfifo()).
If pathname is absolute, then dirfd is ignored.
See openat(2) for an explanation of the need for mkfifoat().
RETURN VALUE
On success mkfifo() and mkfifoat() return 0. On error, -1 is returned
and errno is set to indicate the error.
ERRORS
EACCES One of the directories in pathname did not allow search (execute)
permission.
EBADF (mkfifoat()) pathname is relative but dirfd is neither AT_FDCWD
nor a valid file descriptor.
EDQUOT The user's quota of disk blocks or inodes on the filesystem has
been exhausted.
EEXIST pathname already exists. This includes the case where pathname
is a symbolic link, dangling or not.
ENAMETOOLONG
Either the total length of pathname is greater than PATH_MAX, or
an individual filename component has a length greater than
NAME_MAX. In the GNU system, there is no imposed limit on over-
all filename length, but some filesystems may place limits on the
length of a component.
ENOENT A directory component in pathname does not exist or is a dangling
symbolic link.
ENOSPC The directory or filesystem has no room for the new file.
ENOTDIR
A component used as a directory in pathname is not, in fact, a
directory.
ENOTDIR
(mkfifoat()) pathname is a relative pathname and dirfd is a file
descriptor referring to a file other than a directory.
EROFS pathname refers to a read-only filesystem.
ATTRIBUTES
For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see attributes(7).
┌────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬─────────┐
│ Interface │ Attribute │ Value │
├────────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼─────────┤
│ mkfifo(), mkfifoat() │ Thread safety │ MT-Safe │
└────────────────────────────────────────────┴───────────────┴─────────┘
VERSIONS
It is implemented using mknodat(2).
STANDARDS
POSIX.1-2008.
HISTORY
mkfifo()
POSIX.1-2001.
mkfifoat()
glibc 2.4. POSIX.1-2008.
SEE ALSO
mkfifo(1), close(2), open(2), read(2), stat(2), umask(2), write(2),
fifo(7)
Linux man-pages 6.9.1 2024-05-02 mkfifo(3)
Generated by dwww version 1.16 on Tue Dec 16 04:11:55 CET 2025.