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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 *path, mode_t mode);
#include <fcntl.h> /* Definition of AT_* constants */
#include <sys/stat.h>
int mkfifoat(int dirfd, const char *path, 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 path. 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 path 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 path is relative and dirfd is the special value AT_FDCWD, then path is interpreted relative to the
current working directory of the calling process (like mkfifo()).
If path 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 path did not allow search (execute) permission.
EBADF (mkfifoat()) path 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 path already exists. This includes the case where path is a symbolic link, dangling or not.
ENAMETOOLONG
Either the total size of path 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 overall filename
length, but some filesystems may place limits on the length of a component.
ENOENT A directory component in path 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 path is not, in fact, a directory.
ENOTDIR
(mkfifoat()) path is relative and dirfd is a file descriptor referring to a file other than a
directory.
EROFS path 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 6.15 2025-05-17 mkfifo(3)