Intro To 'mkdir' Command In Linux

2023-04-24 - By Robert Elder

I use the 'mkdir' command to create new directories:

ls -l

total 4
-rw-rw-r-- 1 robert robert 4 Apr 25 17:08 README.txt

mkdir my-new-folder

ls -l

total 8
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:10 my-new-folder
-rw-rw-r-- 1 robert robert    4 Apr 25 17:08 README.txt

Create Multiple Directories At Once

I can even use it to create multiple directories at once by specifying more than one directory name:

mkdir first-folder second-folder third-folder fourth-folder

ls -l

total 24
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:12 first-folder
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:12 fourth-folder
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:10 my-new-folder
-rw-rw-r-- 1 robert robert    4 Apr 25 17:08 README.txt
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:12 second-folder
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:12 third-folder

Create Multiple Nested Directories At Once Using '-p'

Sometimes, you may want to create multiple nested parent directories like this:

mkdir backups/docs/pictures/cats

However, the above command will only work if the directories in the path 'backups/docs/pictures' already exist, so you'll likely see this error message:

mkdir: cannot create directory ‘backups/docs/pictures/cats’: No such file or directory

To create all of the required directories at once, you can use the '-p' flag:

mkdir -p backups/docs/pictures/cats

And now, you can see that all of these directories were created:

find backups

backups/
backups/docs
backups/docs/pictures
backups/docs/pictures/cats

As you can see from above, using the 'mkdir' command with the '-p' flag like this:

mkdir -p backups/docs/pictures/cats

is effectively the same as running multiple 'mkdir' commands without the '-p' flag:

mkdir backups
mkdir backups/docs
mkdir backups/docs/pictures
mkdir backups/docs/pictures/cats

It's also worth noting that the '-p' flag has another purpose, which is to suppress errors when a directory already exists:

mkdir example-folder

mkdir example-folder

mkdir: cannot create directory ‘example-folder’: File exists

mkdir -p example-folder

Create Directories Using Relative Or Absolute Paths

I can create a new directory within the current working directory, or in a completely different directory using relative or absolute paths:

mkdir first-folder/sub-folder

ls -l first-folder

total 4
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:16 sub-folder

ls -l /home/robert/important

total 24
drwxrwxr-x 3 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:16 first-folder
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:12 fourth-folder
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:10 my-new-folder
-rw-rw-r-- 1 robert robert    4 Apr 25 17:08 README.txt
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:12 second-folder
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:12 third-folder

mkdir /home/robert/important/new-folder

ls -l /home/robert/important

total 28
drwxrwxr-x 3 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:16 first-folder
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:12 fourth-folder
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:10 my-new-folder
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:25 new-folder
-rw-rw-r-- 1 robert robert    4 Apr 25 17:08 README.txt
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:12 second-folder
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:12 third-folder

This use of the 'mkdir' command will create a new directory called 'test1' that's one directory up relative to the current working directory:

ls -l ../

total 4
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:16 some-folder

mkdir ../test1

ls -l ../

total 8
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:16 some-folder
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:30 test1

This use of the 'mkdir' command will create a new directory called 'test2' in the absolute directory '/home/robert/important':

ls -l /home/robert/important

total 28
drwxrwxr-x 4 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:30 first-folder
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:12 fourth-folder
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:10 my-new-folder
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:25 new-folder
-rw-rw-r-- 1 robert robert    4 Apr 25 17:08 README.txt
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:12 second-folder
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:12 third-folder

mkdir /home/robert/important/test2

ls -l /home/robert/important

total 32
drwxrwxr-x 4 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:30 first-folder
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:12 fourth-folder
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:10 my-new-folder
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:25 new-folder
-rw-rw-r-- 1 robert robert    4 Apr 25 17:08 README.txt
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:12 second-folder
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:31 test2
drwxrwxr-x 2 robert robert 4096 Apr 25 17:12 third-folder

And that's why the 'mkdir' command is my favorite Linux command.

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