MAKEDEV(8)

NAME
MAKEDEV - create system and device special files

SYNOPSIS
MAKEDEV [-fMs] [-m mknod] [-p pax] [-t mtree] {special | device} [...]

DESCRIPTION
MAKEDEV is used to create system and device special files. As arguments it takes the names of known devices, like sd0, or of special targets, like all or std, which create a collection of device special files, or local, which invokes MAKEDEV.local(8) with the all argument.

The script is in /dev/MAKEDEV. Devices are created in the current working directory; in normal use, MAKEDEV should be invoked with /dev as the current working directory.

Supported options are:

-f  Force permissions to be updated on existing devices. This works only if MAKEDEV invokes mknod(8); it is not compatible with the -p, -s, or -t options.

-M  Create a memory file system, union mounted over the current directory, to contain the device special files. The memory file system is created using mount_tmpfs(8) or mount_mfs(8), in that order of preference.

    If the -M flag is specified more than once, then MAKEDEV assumes that it is being invoked from init(1) to populate a memory file system for /dev. In this case, MAKEDEV will also redirect its output to the system console.

-m mknod
    Force the use of mknod(8), and specify the name or path to the mknod(8) program. [Usually, $TOOL_MKNOD or mknod.]

-p pax
    Force the use of pax(1), and specify the name or path to the pax(1) program. [Usually, $TOOL_PAX or pax.]

-s  Generate an mtree(8) specfile instead of creating devices.

-t mtree
    Force the use of mtree(8), and specify the name or path to the mtree(8) program. [Usually, $TOOL_MTREE or mtree.]

MAKEDEV has several possible methods of creating device nodes:

•   By invoking the mknod(8) command once for each device node. This is the traditional method, but it is slow because each device node is created using a new process.

    The -m option forces MAKEDEV to use the mknod(8) method.

•   By internally creating a specfile in a format usable by mtree(8), and providing the specfile on standard input to a pax(1) or mtree(8) command, invoked with options that request it to create the device nodes as well as any necessary subdirectories. This is much faster than creating device nodes with mknod(8), because it requires much fewer processes; however, it's not compatible with the -f option.

    The -p or -t options force MAKEDEV to use the pax(1) or mtree(8) methods.

•   If the -s option is specified, then MAKEDEV will not create device nodes at all, but will output a specfile in a format usable by mtree(8).

The -m, -p, -s, and -t flags are mutually exclusive. If none of these flags is specified, then MAKEDEV will use mtree(8), pax(1), or mknod(8), in that order of preference, depending on which commands appear to be available and usable. In normal use, it's expected that mtree(8) will be available, so it will be chosen. If MAKEDEV is invoked by init(8), it's expected that mtree(8) will not be available, but pax(1) may be available.

The special targets supported on NetBSD are:

all Makes all known devices, including local devices. Tries to make the 'standard' number of each type.
init
    A set of devices that is used for MFS /dev by init. May be equal to ``all''.
floppy
    Devices to be put on install floppies
ramdisk
    Devices to be put into INSTALL kernel ramdisks.
std Standard devices
local
    Configuration specific devices
wscons
    Make wscons devices
usbs
    Make USB devices
isdns
    Make ISDN devices

Please note that any hash marks (“#”) in the following list of supported device targets must be replaced by digits when calling MAKEDEV:

Tapes:
    st# SCSI tapes, see st(4)
    wt# QIC-interfaced (e.g. not SCSI) 3M cartridge tape, see wt(4)
    ht# MASSBUS TM03 and TU??, see vax/ht(4)
    mt# MSCP tapes (e.g. TU81, TK50), see vax/mt(4)
    tm# UNIBUS TM11 and TE10 emulations (e.g. Emulex TC-11), see vax/tm(4)
    ts# UNIBUS TS11, see vax/ts(4)
    ut# UNIBUS TU45 emulations (e.g. si 9700), see vax/ut(4)
    uu# TU58 cassettes on DL11 controller, see vax/uu(4)

Disks:
    ccd#
        Concatenated disk devices, see ccd(4)
    cd# SCSI or ATAPI CD-ROM, see cd(4)
    cgd#
        Cryptographic disk devices, see cgd(4)
    raid#
        RAIDframe disk devices, see raid(4)
    sd# SCSI disks, see sd(4)
    wd# ``winchester'' disk drives (ST506,IDE,ESDI,RLL,...), see wd(4)
    bmd#
        Nereid bank memory disks, see x68k/bmd(4)
    ed# IBM PS/2 ESDI disk devices, see edc(4)
    fd# ``floppy'' disk drives (3 1/2", 5 1/4"), see amiga/fdc(4), i386/fdc(4), sparc64/fdc(4)
    fss#
        Files system snapshot devices, see fss(4)
    gdrom#
        Dreamcast ``gigadisc'' CD-ROM drive, see dreamcast/gdrom(4)
    hk# UNIBUS RK06 and RK07, see vax/hk(4)
    hp# MASSBUS RM??, see vax/hp(4)
    ld# Logical disk devices (e.g., hardware RAID), see ld(4)
    mcd#
        Mitsumi CD-ROM, see mcd(4)
    md# Memory pseudo-disk devices, see md(4)
    ofdisk#
        OpenFirmware disk devices
    ra# MSCP disks (RA??, RD??)
    rb# 730 IDC w/ RB80 and/or RB02
    rd# HDC9224 RD disks on VS2000, see hp300/rd(4)
    rl# UNIBUS RL02, see vax/rl(4)
    rx# MSCP floppy disk (RX33/50/...)
    up# Other UNIBUS devices (e.g. on Emulex SC-21V controller), see vax/up(4)
    vnd#
        ``file'' pseudo-disks, see vnd(4)
    xbd#
        Xen virtual disks
    xd# Xylogic 753/7053 disks, see sparc/xd(4)
    xy# Xylogic 450/451 disks, see sparc/xy(4)

Pointing devices:
    wsmouse#
        wscons mouse events, see wsmouse(4)
    lms#
        Logitech bus mouse, see i386/lms(4)
    mms#
        Microsoft bus mouse, see dreamcast/mms(4), i386/mms(4)
    qms#
        ``quadrature mouse'', see acorn32/qms(4)
    pms#
        PS/2 mouse
    mouse
        Mouse (provides events, for X11)

Keyboard devices:
    wskbd#
        wscons keyboard events, see wskbd(4)
    kbd Raw keyboard (provides events, for X11), see sparc/kbd(4), sun2/kbd(4), sun3/kbd(4)
    kbdctl
        Keyboard control

Terminals/Console ports:
    tty[01]#
        Standard serial ports, see tty(4)
    tty0#
        SB1250 (``sbscn'') serial ports (sbmips), see tty(4)
    ttyE#
        wscons - Workstation console (``wscons'') glass-tty emulators
    ttyCZ?
        Cyclades-Z multiport serial boards. Each ``unit'' makes 64 ports., see cz(4)
    ttyCY?
        Cyclom-Y multiport serial boards. Each ``unit'' makes 32 ports., see cy(4)
    ttye#
        ITE bitmapped consoles, see amiga/ite(4), hp300/ite(4)
    ttyv0
        pccons
    ttyC?
        NS16550 (``com'') serial ports
    ttyS#
        SA1110 serial port (hpcarm)
    ttyTX?
        TX39 internal serial ports (hpcmips)
    ttyB?
        DEC 3000 ZS8530 (``scc'') serial ports (alpha), see scc(4)
    ttyA#
        Mfc serial ports (amiga)
    ttyB#
        Msc serial ports (amiga)
    ttyC#
        Com style serial ports (DraCo, HyperCom) (amiga) On the DraCo, units 0 and 1 are the built-in ``modem'' and ``mouse'' ports, if configured.
    ttyA0
        8530 Channel A (formerly ser02) (atari)
    ttyA1
        8530 Channel B (formerly mdm02) (atari)
    ttyB0
        UART on first 68901 (formerly mdm01) (atari)
    ixpcom
        IXP12x0 COM ports
    epcom
        EP93xx COM ports
    ttyM?
        HP200/300 4 port serial mux interface (hp300)
    ttya
        ``ttya'' system console (luna68k)
    ttyb
        Second system serial port (luna68k)
    tty#
        Onboard serial ports (mvme68k) On the mvme147 these are: ttyZ1, ttyZ2 and ttyZ3. On the mvme167, and '177: ttyC1, ttyC2 and ttyC3. Note that tty[CZ]0 is grabbed by the console device so is not created by default, see tty(4)
    dc# PMAX 4 channel serial interface (kbd, mouse, modem, printer)
    scc#
        82530 serial interface (pmax), see scc(4)
    ttyZ#
        Zilog 8530 (``zstty'') serial ports, see zstty(4)
    tty[abcd]
        Built-in serial ports (sparc)
    tty#
        Z88530 serial controllers (sparc64), see tty(4)
    ttyh#
        SAB82532 serial controllers (sparc64), see sparc64/sab(4)
    tty[a-j]
        Built-in serial ports (sun2, sun3)
    ttyC?
        pccons (arc)
    dz# UNIBUS DZ11 and DZ32 (vax), see vax/dz(4)
    dh# UNIBUS DH11 and emulations (e.g. Able DMAX, Emulex CS-11) (vax), see vax/dh(4)
    dmf#
        UNIBUS DMF32 (vax), see vax/dmf(4)
    dhu#
        UNIBUS DHU11 (vax), see vax/dhu(4)
    dmz#
        UNIBUS DMZ32 (vax), see vax/dmz(4)
    dl# UNIBUS DL11 (vax), see vax/dl(4)
    xencons
        Xen virtual console

Terminal multiplexors:
    dc# 4 channel serial interface (keyboard, mouse, modem, printer)
    dh# UNIBUS DH11 and emulations (e.g. Able DMAX, Emulex CS-11), see vax/dh(4)
    dhu#
        UNIBUS DHU11, see vax/dhu(4)
    dl# UNIBUS DL11, see vax/dl(4)
    dmf#
        UNIBUS DMF32, see vax/dmf(4)
    dmz#
        UNIBUS DMZ32, see vax/dmz(4)
    dz# UNIBUS DZ11 and DZ32, see vax/dz(4)
    scc#
        82530 serial interface, see scc(4)

Call units:
    dn# UNIBUS DN11 and emulations (e.g. Able Quadracall), see vax/dn(4)

Pseudo terminals:
    ptm Pty multiplexor device, and pts directory, see ptm(4)
    pty#
        Set of 16 master and slave pseudo terminals, see pty(4)
    opty
        First 16 ptys, to save inodes on install media
    ipty
        First 2 ptys, for install media use only

Printers:
    arcpp#
        Archimedes parallel port
    lpt#
        Stock lp, see lpt(4), acorn32/lpt(4), i386/lpt(4), mvme68k/lpt(4)
    lpa#
        Interruptless lp
    par#
        Amiga motherboard parallel port
    cpi#
        Macintosh Nubus CSI parallel printer card, see mac68k/cpi(4)

USB devices:
    usb#
        USB control devices, see usb(4)
    uhid#
        USB generic HID devices, see uhid(4)
    ulpt#
        USB printer devices, see ulpt(4)
    ugen#
        USB generic devices, see ugen(4)
    urio#
        USB Diamond Rio 500 devices, see urio(4)
    uscanner#
        USB scanners, see uscanner(4)
    ttyU#
        USB modems, see ucom(4)
    ttyY#
        USB serial adapters

ISDN devices:
    isdn
        Communication between userland isdnd and kernel, see isdn(4)
    isdnctl
        Control device, see isdnctl(4)
    isdnbchan#
        Raw b-channel access, see isdnbchan(4)
    isdntel#
        Telephony device, see isdntel(4)
    isdnteld#
        Telephony dialout device
    isdntrc#
        Trace device, see isdntrc(4)

Video devices:
    bwtwo#
        Monochromatic frame buffer, see sparc/bwtwo(4), sun2/bwtwo(4), sun3/bwtwo(4)
    cgtwo#
        8-bit color frame buffer, see sparc/cgtwo(4), sun3/cgtwo(4)
    cgthree#
        8-bit color frame buffer, see sparc/cgthree(4)
    cgfour#
        8-bit color frame buffer, see sparc/cgfour(4), sun3/cgfour(4)
    cgsix#
        Accelerated 8-bit color frame buffer, see sparc/cgsix(4)
    cgeight#
        24-bit color frame buffer, see sparc/cgeight(4)
    etvme
        Tseng et-compatible cards on VME (atari)
    ik# UNIBUS interface to Ikonas frame buffer, see vax/ik(4)
    leo Circad Leonardo VME-bus true color (atari)
    ps# UNIBUS interface to Picture System 2, see vax/ps(4)
    qv# QVSS (MicroVAX) display
    tcx#
        Accelerated 8/24-bit color frame buffer, see sparc/tcx(4)

Maple bus devices:
    maple
        Maple bus control devices, see dreamcast/maple(4)
    mlcd#
        Maple bus LCD devices, see dreamcast/mlcd(4)
    mmem#
        Maple bus storage devices, see dreamcast/mmem(4)

IEEE1394 bus devices:
    fw# IEEE1394 bus generic node access devices
    fwmem#
        IEEE1394 bus physical memory of the remote node access devices

Special purpose devices:
    ad# UNIBUS interface to Data Translation A/D converter, see vax/ad(4)
    agp#
        AGP GART devices, see agp(4)
    altq
        ALTQ control interface
    amr#
        AMI MegaRaid control device, see amr(4)
    apm Power management device, see i386/apm(4)
    audio#
        Audio devices, see audio(4)
    bell#
        OPM bell device (x68k)
    bktr
        Brooktree 848/849/878/879 based TV cards, see bktr(4)
    bpf Packet filter, see bpf(4)
    bthub
        Bluetooth Device Hub control interface, see bthub(4)
    cfs#
        Coda file system device
    ch# SCSI media changer, see ch(4)
    cir#
        Consumer IR, see cir(4)
    clockctl
        Clock control for non root users, see clockctl(4)
    cpuctl
        CPU control
    crypto
        Hardware crypto access driver, see crypto(4)
    dmoverio
        Hardware-assisted data movers, see dmoverio(4)
    dpt#
        DPT/Adaptec EATA RAID management interface, see dpt(4)
    dpti#
        DPT/Adaptec I2O RAID management interface, see dpti(4)
    fb# PMAX generic framebuffer pseudo-device
    fd  File descriptors
    grf#
        Graphics frame buffer device, see amiga/grf(4), hp300/grf(4)
    hil HP300 HIL input devices, see hp300/hil(4)
    icp ICP-Vortex/Intel RAID control interface, see icp(4)
    iic#
        IIC bus device
    io  X86 IOPL access for COMPAT_10, COMPAT_FREEBSD, see hp700/io(4), i386/io(4)
    iop#
        I2O IOP control interface, see iop(4)
    ipl IP Filter
    irframe#
        IrDA physical frame, see irframe(4)
    ite#
        Terminal emulator interface to HP300 graphics devices, see amiga/ite(4), hp300/ite(4)
    joy#
        Joystick device, see joy(4)
    kttcp
        Kernel ttcp helper device, see kttcp(4)
    lkm Loadable kernel modules interface, see lkm(4)
    lockstat
        Kernel locking statistics
    magma#
        Magma multiport serial/parallel cards, see sparc/magma(4)
    midi#
        MIDI, see midi(4)
    mlx#
        Mylex DAC960 control interface, see mlx(4)
    mly#
        Mylex AcceleRAID/eXtremeRAID control interface, see mly(4)
    np# UNIBUS Ethernet co-processor interface, for downloading., see vax/np(4)
    nsmb#
        SMB requester, see nsmb(4)
    openfirm
        OpenFirmware accessor
    pad#
        Pseudo-audio device driver, see pad(4)
    pci#
        PCI bus access devices, see pci(4)
    pf  PF packet filter
    pow#
        Power management device (x68k), see x68k/pow(4)
    putter
        Pass-to-Userspace Transporter
    px# PixelStamp Xserver access, see px(4)
    radio#
        Radio devices, see radio(4)
    random
        Random number generator, see rnd(4)
    rtc#
        RealTimeClock, see atari/rtc(4), evbppc/rtc(4), hp300/rtc(4)
    satlink#
        PlanetConnect satellite receiver driver
    scsibus#
        SCSI busses, see scsi(4)
    se# SCSI Ethernet, see se(4)
    ses#
        SES/SAF-TE SCSI Devices, see ses(4)
    speaker
        PC speaker, see speaker(4)
    sram
        Battery backuped memory (x68k)
    ss# SCSI scanner, see ss(4)
    stic#
        PixelStamp interface chip
    sysmon
        System Monitoring hardware, see envsys(4)
    tap#
        Virtual Ethernet device, see tap(4)
    tun#
        Network tunnel driver, see tun(4)
    twa 3ware Apache control interface, see twa(4)
    twe 3ware Escalade control interface, see twe(4)
    uk# Unknown SCSI device, see uk(4)
    veriexec
        Verified executable fingerprint loader, see veriexec(4)
    video#
        Video capture devices, see video(4)
    view#
        Generic interface to graphic displays (Amiga)
    vmegen#
        Generic VME access
    wsfont#
        Console font control, see wsfont(4)
    wsmux#
        wscons event multiplexor, see wsmux(4)
    xenevt
        Xen event interface

ENVIRONMENT
The following environment variables affect the execution of MAKEDEV:

MAKEDEV_AS_LIBRARY
    If this is set, then MAKEDEV will define several shell functions and then return, ignoring all its command line options and arguments. This is used to enable MAKEDEV.local(8) to use the shell functions defined in MAKEDEV.

FILES
/dev
    special device files directory
/dev/MAKEDEV
    script described in this man page
/dev/MAKEDEV.local
    script for site-specific devices

DIAGNOSTICS
If the script reports an error that is difficult to understand, you can get more debugging output by using
    sh -x MAKEDEV argument.

SEE ALSO
config(1), init(1), pax(1), intro(4), MAKEDEV.local(8), diskless(8), mknod(8), mount_mfs(8), mount_tmpfs(8), mtree(8)

HISTORY
The MAKEDEV command appeared in 4.2BSD. The -f, -m, and -s options were added in NetBSD 2.0. The -p, -t, and -M options were added in NetBSD 5.0. The ability to be used as a function library was added in NetBSD 5.0.

BUGS
The -f option is not compatible with the use of mtree(8) or pax(1).

NOTES
Not all devices listed in this manpage are supported on all platforms.

This man page is generated automatically from the same sources as /dev/MAKEDEV, in which the device files are not always sorted, which may result in an unusual (non-alphabetical) order.

In order to allow a diskless NetBSD client to obtain its /dev directory from a file server running a foreign operating system, one of the following techniques may be useful to populate a directory of device nodes on the foreign server:

•   If the foreign server is sufficiently similar to NetBSD, run MAKEDEV in an appropriate directory of the foreign server, using the -m flag to refer to a script that converts from command line arguments that would be usable with the NetBSD mknod(8) command to the equivalent commands for the foreign server.

•   Run MAKEDEV with the -s flag to generate an mtree(8) specification file; this can be done on any host with a POSIX-compliant shell and a few widely-available utilities. Use the pax(1) command with the -w -M flags to convert the mtree(8) specification file into an archive in a format that supports device nodes (such as ustar format); this can be done on a NetBSD host, or can be done in a cross-build environment using TOOLDIR/bin/nbpax. Finally, use apropriate tools on the foreign server to unpack the archive and create the device nodes.