mktemp(1) - man - phpman

Che Dong

Create a temporary file or directory.

Create an empty temporary file and print its absolute path
mktemp
Use a custom directory if `$TMPDIR` is not set (the default is platform-dependent, but usually `/tmp`)
mktemp -p /{{path/to/temporary_directory}}
Use a custom path template (`X`s are replaced with random alphanumeric characters)
mktemp {{/tmp/example.XXXXXXXX}}
Use a custom file name template
mktemp -t {{example.XXXXXXXX}}
Create an empty temporary directory and print its absolute path
mktemp -d

MKTEMP(1)                                   User Commands                                  MKTEMP(1)



NAME
       mktemp - create a temporary file or directory

SYNOPSIS
       mktemp [OPTION]... [TEMPLATE]

DESCRIPTION
       Create  a  temporary file or directory, safely, and print its name.  TEMPLATE must contain at
       least  3  consecutive  'X's  in  last  component.   If  TEMPLATE  is   not   specified,   use
       tmp.XXXXXXXXXX,  and --tmpdir is implied.  Files are created u+rw, and directories u+rwx, mi‐
       nus umask restrictions.

       -d, --directory
              create a directory, not a file

       -u, --dry-run
              do not create anything; merely print a name (unsafe)

       -q, --quiet
              suppress diagnostics about file/dir-creation failure

       --suffix=SUFF
              append SUFF to TEMPLATE; SUFF must not contain a slash.  This  option  is  implied  if
              TEMPLATE does not end in X

       -p DIR, --tmpdir[=DIR]
              interpret  TEMPLATE relative to DIR; if DIR is not specified, use $TMPDIR if set, else
              /tmp.  With this option, TEMPLATE must not be an absolute name; unlike with  -t,  TEM‐
              PLATE may contain slashes, but mktemp creates only the final component

       -t     interpret  TEMPLATE as a single file name component, relative to a directory: $TMPDIR,
              if set; else the directory specified via -p; else /tmp [deprecated]

       --help display this help and exit

       --version
              output version information and exit

AUTHOR
       Written by Jim Meyering and Eric Blake.

REPORTING BUGS
       GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
       Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright © 2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc.  License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3  or  later
       <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
       This  is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.  There is NO WARRANTY, to
       the extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO
       mkstemp(3), mkdtemp(3), mktemp(3)

       Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/mktemp>
       or available locally via: info '(coreutils) mktemp invocation'



GNU coreutils 8.32                          January 2026                                   MKTEMP(1)