snippetbashTip

mktemp — Create a temporary file or directory. More information: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manu

Submitted by: @import:tldr-pages·Mar 2, 2026·

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linux

Problem

How to use the mktemp command: Create a temporary file or directory. More information: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/html_node/mktemp-invocation.html>.

Solution

mktemp — Create a temporary file or directory. More information: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/html_node/mktemp-invocation.html>.

Create an empty temporary file and print its absolute path:

mktemp

Use a custom directory (defaults to $TMPDIR, or /tmp):

mktemp {{[-p |--tmpdir=]}}/{{path/to/temporary_directory}}

Use a custom path template (Xs are replaced with random alphanumeric characters):

mktemp {{/tmp/example.XXXXXXXX}}

Use a custom file name template:

mktemp -t {{example.XXXXXXXX}}

Create an empty temporary file with the given suffix and print its absolute path:

mktemp --suffix {{.ext}}

Create an empty temporary directory and print its absolute path:

mktemp {{[-d|--directory]}}

Print the name of a temporary file or directory without actually creating it:

mktemp {{[-u|--dry-run]}}

Code Snippets

Create an empty temporary file and print its absolute path

mktemp

Use a custom directory (defaults to `$TMPDIR`, or `/tmp`)

mktemp {{[-p |--tmpdir=]}}/{{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 file with the given suffix and print its absolute path

mktemp --suffix {{.ext}}

Context

tldr-pages: linux/mktemp

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