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MKTEMP(3) Linux Programmer's Manual MKTEMP(3)
NAME
mktemp - make a unique temporary filename
SYNOPSIS
#include <stdlib.h>
char *mktemp(char *template);
Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see feature_test_macros(7)):
mktemp():
Since glibc 2.12:
(_XOPEN_SOURCE >= 500) && ! (_POSIX_C_SOURCE >= 200112L)
|| /* Glibc since 2.19: */ _DEFAULT_SOURCE
|| /* Glibc <= 2.19: */ _SVID_SOURCE || _BSD_SOURCE
Before glibc 2.12:
_BSD_SOURCE || _SVID_SOURCE || _XOPEN_SOURCE >= 500
DESCRIPTION
Never use this function; see BUGS.
The mktemp() function generates a unique temporary filename from template. The last six characters of template must be XXXXXX and these are replaced with a
string that makes the filename unique. Since it will be modified, template must not be a string constant, but should be declared as a character array.
RETURN VALUE
The mktemp() function always returns template. If a unique name was created, the last six bytes of template will have been modified in such a way that the re‐
sulting name is unique (i.e., does not exist already) If a unique name could not be created, template is made an empty string, and errno is set to indicate the
error.
ERRORS
EINVAL The last six characters of template were not XXXXXX.
ATTRIBUTES
For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see attributes(7).
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬─────────┐
│Interface │ Attribute │ Value │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼─────────┤
│mktemp() │ Thread safety │ MT-Safe │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴───────────────┴─────────┘
CONFORMING TO
4.3BSD, POSIX.1-2001. POSIX.1-2008 removes the specification of mktemp().
BUGS
Never use mktemp(). Some implementations follow 4.3BSD and replace XXXXXX by the current process ID and a single letter, so that at most 26 different names can
be returned. Since on the one hand the names are easy to guess, and on the other hand there is a race between testing whether the name exists and opening the
file, every use of mktemp() is a security risk. The race is avoided by mkstemp(3) and mkdtemp(3).
SEE ALSO
mktemp(1), mkdtemp(3), mkstemp(3), tempnam(3), tmpfile(3), tmpnam(3)
GNU 2021-03-22 MKTEMP(3)