In this article, we have present a solution to the problem "Unable to make temporary file: Permission denied". The solution is to set the correct file permissions in /tmp directory. This is a critical problem as using sudo in command does not work.

Table of contents:

1. Error
2. Solution

Error

Replicate the error:

Assume you have a code "code.cc" which creates a file in the temporary directory /tmp. You will get the error if the /tmp directory does not have right permissions.

Error:

Unable to make temporary file: Permission denied

This can come if:

• You deleted /tmp and recreated it with default parameters like

mkdir /tmp

Solution

Using sudo to run your code will not solve the issue.

To fix the issue, run the following command in terminal:

sudo chmod -R 1777 /tmp

1777 means:

• 1 = sticky bit
• 7 = Read + Write + Execute

With this article at OpenGenus, you must be able to fix this issue.