Which command is used in both Linux and Windows CLI to create a new directory?

The current working directory is the directory from which you are running the commands. To change the current working directory, use the

ls -l
2 command.

To create a new directory in another location, you’ll need to provide the parent directory’s absolute or relative file path. For example, to create a new directory in the

ls -l
3 directory you would type:

mkdir /tmp/newdir

If you try to create a directory in a parent directory where the user does not have sufficient permissions, you will receive

ls -l
4 error:

mkdir /root/newdir
mkdir: cannot create directory '/root/newdir': Permission denied

The

ls -l
5 [
ls -l
6] option tells
mkdir newdir
6 to print a message for each created directory.

How to Create Parent Directories #

A parent directory is a directory that is above another directory in the directory tree. To create parent directories, use the

ls -l
8 option.

Let’s say you want to create a directory

ls -l
9:

mkdir /home/linuxize/Music/Rock/Gothic

If any of the parent directories don’t exist, you will get an error as shown below:

mkdir: cannot create directory '/home/linuxize/Music/Rock/Gothic': No such file or directory

Instead of creating the missing parent directories one by one, invoke the

mkdir newdir
6 command with the
ls -l
8 option:

mkdir -p /home/linuxize/Music/Rock/Gothic

When the

ls -l
8 option is used, the command creates the directory only if it doesn’t exist.

If you try to create a directory that already exists and the

ls -l
8 option is not provided,
mkdir newdir
6 will print
drwxrwxr-x 2 username username 4096 Jan 20 03:39 newdir
5 error:

mkdir newdir
mkdir newdir
1

How to Set Permissions when Creating a Directory #

To create a directory with specific permissions, invoke the

mkdir newdir
6 commanf with the
drwxrwxr-x 2 username username 4096 Jan 20 03:39 newdir
7 [
drwxrwxr-x 2 username username 4096 Jan 20 03:39 newdir
8] option. The syntax for assigning permissions is the same as with the
drwxrwxr-x 2 username username 4096 Jan 20 03:39 newdir
9 command.

In the following example, we’re creating a new directory with

mkdir /tmp/newdir
0 permissions, which means that only the user who created the directory will be able to access it:

mkdir newdir
2

When the

drwxrwxr-x 2 username username 4096 Jan 20 03:39 newdir
7 option is not used, the newly created directories usually have either
mkdir /tmp/newdir
2 or
mkdir /tmp/newdir
3 permissions, depending on the
mkdir /tmp/newdir
4 value.

The mkdir command in Linux/Unix allows users to create or make new directories. mkdir stands for “make directory.”

With mkdir, you can also set permissions, create multiple directories [folders] at once, and much more.

This tutorial will show you how to use the mkdir command in Linux.

Prerequisites

  • Linux or UNIX-like system.
  • Access to a terminal/command line.
  • A user with permissions to create and change directory settings.

mkdir Command Syntax in Linux

The basic command for creating directories in Linux consists of the mkdir command and the name of the directory. As you can add options to this command, the syntax looks like this:

mkdir [option] dir_name

To understand better how to use mkdir, refer to the examples we provide in the rest of the guide.

Tip: Use cd to navigate to the directory where you want to create a sub-directory. You can also use the direct path. Use ls to list the directories in the current location.

How to Make a New Directory In Linux

To create a directory using the terminal, pass the desired name to the mkdir command.

In this example, we created a directory Linux on the desktop. Remember commands in Linux and options are case sensitive.

mkdir Linux

If the operation is successful, the terminal returns an empty line.

To verify, use

mkdir Linux
0.

How to Create Multiple Directories with mkdir

You can create directories one by one with mkdir, but this can be time-consuming. To avoid that, you can run a single mkdir command to create multiple directories at once.

To do so, use the curly brackets {} with mkdir and state the directory names, separated by a comma.

mkdir {test1,test2,test3}

Do not add any spaces in the curly brackets for the directory names. If you do, the names in question will include the extra characters:

How to Make Parent Directories

Building a structure with multiple subdirectories using mkdir requires adding the

mkdir Linux
2 option. This makes sure that mkdir adds any missing parent directories in the process.

For example, if you want to create “dirtest2” in “dirtest1” inside the Linux directory [i.e., Linux/dirtest1/dirtest2], run the command:

mkdir –p Linux/dirtest1/dirtest2

Use

mkdir Linux
4 to show the recursive directory tree.

Without the

mkdir Linux
2 option, the terminal returns an error if one of the directories in the string does not exist.

How to Set Permissions When Making a Directory

The mkdir command by default gives rwx permissions for the current user only.
To add read, write, and execute permission for all users, add the

mkdir Linux
7 option with the user 777 when creating a directory.

To create a directory DirM with rwx permissions:

mkdir –m777 DirM

To list all directories and show the permissions sets:

mkdir Linux
8

The directory with rwx permissions for all users is highlighted. As you can see on the image above, two other directories by default have rwx permission for the owner, xr for the group and x for other users.

How to Verify Directories

When executing mkdir commands, there is no feedback for successful operations. To see the details of the mkdir process, append the

mkdir {test1,test2,test3}
0 option to the terminal command.

Let’s create a Details directory inside Dir1 and print the operation status:

By getting the feedback from the process, you do not have to run the

mkdir Linux
0 command to verify the directory was created.

mkdir Command Options and Syntax Summary

Option / SyntaxDescription
mkdir {test1,test2,test3}
2Creates a directory in the current location
mkdir {test1,test2,test3}
3Creates multiple directories in the current location. Do not use spaces inside {}
mkdir {test1,test2,test3}
4Creates a directory structure with the missing parent directories [if any]
mkdir {test1,test2,test3}
5Creates a directory and sets full read, write, execute permissions for all users
mkdir {test1,test2,test3}
6Creates a directory in the current location

Conclusion

This guide covered all commands you need to create directories in Linux.

Now you understand how to use the Linux mkdir command. It’s straightforward and simple to use.

If you have the necessary permissions, there should be no error messages when you follow the instructions in this article.

What Linux command is used to create a new directory?

The mkdir command in Linux/Unix allows users to create or make new directories. mkdir stands for “make directory.” With mkdir , you can also set permissions, create multiple directories [folders] at once, and much more.

Which command is used to create a new folder in a CLI?

Creating a new directory [or folder] is done using the "mkdir" command [which stands for make directory.]

Which command is used to create a new directory in Windows?

To create a new local directory using the command line interface, type lmkdir directory at the CDFtp: prompt, where directory is the name of the new directory. For example, type lmkdir c:\newfiles\Daily to create a local directory named Daily in the c:\newfiles directory.

Which of the following Windows CLI commands are used to create a directory?

To create a directory in MS-DOS or the Windows Command Prompt [cmd], use the md or mkdir MS-DOS command. For example, below, we are creating a new directory called "hope" in the current directory. You can also create multiple new directories in the current one with the md command.

Chủ Đề