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34 .\" @(#)mknod.8 8.2 (Berkeley) 12/11/93
36 .Dd September 11, 1998
41 .Nd make device special file
52 .Ar major unit subunit
63 command creates device special files.
64 Normally the shell script
66 is used to create special files for commonly known devices; it executes
68 with the appropriate arguments and can make all the files required for the
71 To make nodes manually, the required arguments are:
73 .Bl -tag -width majorx
75 Device name, for example
77 for a SCSI disk on an HP300 or a
80 .It Cm b | Cm c | Cm w
81 Type of device. If the
82 device is a block type device such as a tape or disk drive which needs
83 both cooked and raw special files,
86 Whiteout nodes are type
88 All other devices are character type devices, such as terminal
89 and pseudo devices, and are type
92 The major device number is an integer number which tells the kernel
93 which device driver entry point to use. To learn what
94 major device number to use for a particular device, check the file
96 to see if the device is known, or check
97 the system dependent device configuration file:
98 .Bd -filled -offset indent
99 .Dq Pa /usr/src/sys/conf/device. Ns Em architecture
105 The minor device number tells the kernel which one of several similar
106 devices the node corresponds to; for example, it may be a specific serial
108 .It Ar unit and subunit
109 The unit and subunit numbers select a subset of a device; for example, the
110 unit may specify a particular SCSI disk, and the subunit a partition on
111 that disk. (Currently this form of specification is only supported by the
113 format, for compatibility with the
118 Device numbers for different operating systems may be packed in a different
119 format. To create device nodes that may be used by such an operating system
120 (e.g. in an exported file system used for netbooting), the
122 option is used. The following formats are recognized:
140 Alternatively, a single opaque device number may be specified.