mktemp

Create an empty temporary file and print its path

$ mktemp

$ mktemp -p [/path/to/directory]

$ mktemp [/tmp/example.XXXXXXXX]

$ mktemp --suffix [.txt]

$ mktemp -d

$ mktemp -u

mktemp [-d] [-u] [-q] [-p dir] [--suffix suff] [template]

mktemp creates temporary files or directories safely and prints their names. The template must include at least 3 consecutive X characters in its final component, which are replaced with random alphanumeric characters to ensure uniqueness.
When no template is provided, mktemp defaults to tmp.XXXXXXXXXX in the system temp directory. Files are created with u+rw permissions and directories with u+rwx, both modified by umask.
The safe creation prevents race conditions where another process might create a file between checking for existence and creating. This is critical for secure script writing.

-d, --directory

Create a directory instead of a file

Print name without creating anything (unsafe for scripts)

Suppress error messages on creation failure

Create temporary file relative to specified directory; defaults to $TMPDIR or /tmp

Interpret template as filename relative to temp directory (deprecated)

Append suffix to template; suffix cannot contain slashes

The -u (dry-run) option is unsafe for production scripts because another process could create the file between printing the name and actual use. Always let mktemp create the file directly. Temporary files persist until explicitly deleted; clean up in scripts using trap.

mktemp originated in OpenBSD and was later adopted by other systems. The GNU version is part of coreutils. The command provides a safe interface to the mkstemp(3) and mkdtemp(3) library functions.

tmpfile(1), mkstemp(3), mkdtemp(3)