Bash mkdir and subfolders

Question

Why I can't do something like this? mkdir folder/subfolder/ in order to achive this I have to do:

mkdir folder
cd folder
mkdir subfolder

Is there a better way to do it?

It may be a duplicate, but this question is formulated much more straight-forward. +1 — bathyscapher, Feb 09 '22 at 15:49

score 290 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 11 '12 at 17:09

290

You can:

mkdir -p folder/subfolder

The -p flag causes any parent directories to be created if necessary.

answered Feb 11 '12 at 17:09

FatalError

2

your folder and subfolder name can be a variable name as well. For example $data_dir='data' and $sub='subdir'. Then we can create directories like mkdir -p $data_dir/$sub – Abu Shoeb Nov 07 '17 at 01:45

score 51 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 25 '15 at 14:05

51

To create multiple sub-folders

mkdir -p parentfolder/{subfolder1,subfolder2,subfolder3}

answered Jun 25 '15 at 14:05

danleyb2

score 29 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 29 '16 at 11:48

29

FWIW,

Poor mans security folder (to protect a public shared folder from little prying eyes ;) )

mkdir -p {0..9}/{0..9}/{0..9}/{0..9}

Now you can put your files in a pin numbered folder. Not exactly waterproof, but it's a barrier for the youngest.

answered Apr 29 '16 at 11:48

Mutrax

10

lol that's cute – kpie Apr 18 '18 at 05:38
5

I upvote this because it made my day (lol) and also learned me something new, thanks :D – crgarridos Feb 11 '19 at 17:48
5

So nice! But a bash rich man can break it by using a command like `du -h --max-depth=4 | sort -hr`! – faghani Jul 17 '19 at 07:33

3 Answers3