TMPDIR

TMPDIR is the canonical environment variable in Unix and POSIX that should be used to specify a temporary directory for scratch space.  Most Unix programs will honor this setting and use its value to denote the scratch area for temporary files instead of the common default of /tmp or /var/tmp.

Other forms sometimes accepted are TEMP, TEMPDIR and TMP, but these alternatives are used more commonly by non-POSIX operating systems or non-conformant programs.

TMPDIR is specified in various Unix and similar standards, e.g. per the Single UNIX Specification.

See also
 Filesystem Hierarchy Standard
 mktemp
 Temporary folder
 Unix filesystem

References

Category:Unix file system technology
Category:Environment variables