MAKEDEV(8) | System Manager's Manual (amd64) | MAKEDEV(8)

# NAME

`MAKEDEV` — create system and device special files

# SYNOPSIS

`MAKEDEV` | [name ...]

# DESCRIPTION

The shell script `MAKEDEV`, found in the /dev directory, is used to create various special files. See intro(4) for a more complete discussion of special files.

`MAKEDEV` takes any number of device names as arguments, where the names are the common abbreviation for the device or group of devices. Files are created in the current working directory.

Where a device name is followed by a star ‘*’, the star must be replaced by a unit number. If units are expected for a device but not provided, `MAKEDEV` will supply the standard numbers in most cases.

The amd64 supports the following devices:

Special device names

all
  Creates special files for all devices on amd64.
ramdisk
  Ramdisk kernel devices.
std
  Creates the ‘standard’ devices (console, klog, kmem, ksyms, mem, null, stderr, stdin, stdout, tty, zero) which are absolutely necessary for the system to function properly.
local
  Creates configuration-specific devices, by invoking the shell file MAKEDEV.local.
redodisks
  Recreates all partitions for disks found in /etc.

Disks

cd*
  ATAPI and SCSI CD-ROM drives, see cd(4).
fd*
  Floppy disk drives (3 1/2", 5 1/4"), see fd(4).
rd*
  “rd” pseudo-disks, see rd(4).
sd*
  SCSI disks, including flopticals, see sd(4).
vnd*
  “file” pseudo-disk devices, see vnd(4).
wd*
  “winchester” disk drives (ST506, IDE, ESDI, RLL, ...), see wd(4).

Tapes

ch*
  SCSI media changers, see ch(4).
st*
  SCSI tape drives, see st(4).

Terminal ports

tty[0-7][0-9a-f]
  NS16x50 serial ports, see com(4).
ttyc*
  Cyclades serial ports, see cy(4).
ttyVI*
  Virtio serial ports, see viocon(4).

Pseudo terminals

ptm
  pty master device, see ptm(4).
pty*
  Set of 62 master pseudo terminals, see pty(4).
tty*
  Set of 62 slave pseudo terminals, see tty(4).

Console ports

ttyC-J*
  wscons display devices, see wsdisplay(4).
wscons
  Minimal wscons devices, see wscons(4).
wskbd*
  wscons keyboards, see wskbd(4).
wsmux
  wscons keyboard/mouse mux devices, see wsmux(4).

Pointing devices

wsmouse*
  wscons mice, see wsmouse(4).

Printers

lpa*
  Polled printer port, see lpt(4).
lpt*
  IEEE 1284 centronics printer, see lpt(4).

USB devices

ttyU*
  USB serial ports, see ucom(4).
uall
  All USB devices, see usb(4).
ugen*
  Generic USB devices, see ugen(4).
uhid*
  Generic HID devices, see uhid(4).
fido
  fido/* nodes, see fido(4).
ujoy
  ujoy/* nodes, see ujoy(4).
ulpt*
  Printer devices, see ulpt(4).
usb*
  Bus control devices used by usbd for attach/detach, see usb(4).

Special purpose devices

apm
  Power Management Interface, see apm(4).
audio*
  Audio devices, see audio(4).
bio
  ioctl tunnel pseudo-device, see bio(4).
bktr*
  Video frame grabbers, see bktr(4).
bpf
  Berkeley Packet Filter, see bpf(4).
dt
  Dynamic Tracer, see dt(4).
diskmap
  Disk mapper, see diskmap(4).
dri
  Direct Rendering Infrastructure, see drm(4).
efi
  EFI runtime services, see efi(4).
fd
  fd/* nodes, see fd(4).
fuse
  Userland Filesystem, see fuse(4).
gpio*
  General Purpose Input/Output, see gpio(4).
hotplug
  devices hot plugging, see hotplug(4).
ipmi*
  IPMI BMC access, see ipmi(4).
nvram
  NVRAM access, see nvram(4).
kcov
  Kernel code coverage tracing, see kcov(4).
pci*
  PCI bus devices, see pci(4).
pctr*
  PC Performance Tuning Register access device, see pctr(4).
pf
  Packet Filter, see pf(4).
pppx*
  PPP Multiplexer, see pppx(4).
pppac*
  PPP Access Concentrator, see pppac(4).
radio*
  FM tuner devices, see radio(4).
*random
  In-kernel random data source, see random(4).
rmidi*
  Raw MIDI devices, see midi(4).
speaker
  PC speaker, see spkr(4).
tun*
  Network tunnel driver, see tun(4).
tap*
  Ethernet tunnel driver, see tap(4).
tuner*
  Tuner devices, see bktr(4).
uk*
  Unknown SCSI devices, see uk(4).
video*
  Video V4L2 devices, see video(4).
vmm
  Virtual Machine Monitor, see vmm(4).
vscsi*
  Virtual SCSI controller, see vscsi(4).
pvbus*
  paravirtual device tree root, see pvbus(4).
kstat
  Kernel Statistics, see kstat(4).
psp
  Platform Security Processor, see psp(4).

# FILES

/dev
  The special file directory.

# SEE ALSO

intro(4), config(8), mknod(8)

September 29, 2025 | Debian