Mkfifo - Revision history

DrModiford: Missing 'in'

2008-06-13T12:21:59Z

Missing 'in'

DrModiford: Added the Unix system-commands header

2008-06-09T21:24:04Z

Added the Unix system-commands header

DrModiford: Initial article on the mkfifo command (originating from Syslog-NG Installation article)

2008-06-09T21:23:06Z

Initial article on the mkfifo command (originating from Syslog-NG Installation article)

New page

The '''mkfifo''', or Make First-In First-Out, command creates a form of 'pipe' somewhere on the file system with special properties. This pipe can be thought of as a file the traditional, or physical, sense in that it can be written-to and read-from however it takes it one step further by allowing two separate process to have access to it; one process writes to it while another process reads from it and in the order entries were made. As such it is often referred to as 'half-duplex' because only one write or one read can happen at a time. This makes it a form of 'data buffer'.

In reality the 'fifo' pipe exists in memory. It is a form of virtual link, similar to file system entry created by the [[ln|link]] command. As such it is limited by available system memory. That said the pipe is persistent and will survive a reboot '''but the data within it will not''', the fifo entry remains in place until it is removed by issuing a [[rm|remove]] command.

[[Category:System Commands]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:24, 9 June 2008
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		+	{{System-Commands}}

	The '''mkfifo''', or Make First-In First-Out, command creates a form of 'pipe' somewhere on the file system with special properties. This pipe can be thought of as a file the traditional, or physical, sense in that it can be written-to and read-from however it takes it one step further by allowing two separate process to have access to it; one process writes to it while another process reads from it and in the order entries were made. As such it is often referred to as 'half-duplex' because only one write or one read can happen at a time. This makes it a form of 'data buffer'.		The '''mkfifo''', or Make First-In First-Out, command creates a form of 'pipe' somewhere on the file system with special properties. This pipe can be thought of as a file the traditional, or physical, sense in that it can be written-to and read-from however it takes it one step further by allowing two separate process to have access to it; one process writes to it while another process reads from it and in the order entries were made. As such it is often referred to as 'half-duplex' because only one write or one read can happen at a time. This makes it a form of 'data buffer'.

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 {{System-Commands}}
-The '''mkfifo''', or Make First-In First-Out, command creates a form of 'pipe' somewhere on the file system with special properties.  This pipe can be thought of as a file the traditional, or physical, sense in that it can be written-to and read-from however it takes it one step further by allowing two separate process to have access to it; one process writes to it while another process reads from it and in the order entries were made.  As such it is often referred to as 'half-duplex' because only one write or one read can happen at a time.  This makes it a form of 'data buffer'.
+The '''mkfifo''', or Make First-In First-Out, command creates a form of 'pipe' somewhere on the file system with special properties.  This pipe can be thought of as a file in the traditional, or physical, sense in that it can be written-to and read-from however it takes it one step further by allowing two separate process to have access to it; one process writes to it while another process reads from it and in the order entries were made.  As such it is often referred to as 'half-duplex' because only one write or one read can happen at a time.  This makes it a form of 'data buffer'.
 In reality the 'fifo' pipe exists in memory.  It is a form of virtual link, similar to file system entry created by the [[ln|link]] command.  As such it is limited by available system memory.  That said the pipe is persistent and will survive a reboot '''but the data within it will not''', the fifo entry remains in place until it is removed by issuing a [[rm|remove]] command.
 [[Category:System Commands]]