Assuring that a device node exists

6.14 LPAR mode z/VM guest KVM guest

The watchdog application on Linux® needs a misc character device to communicate with the watchdog timer.

About this task

The watchdog device node is typically called /dev/watchdog. If your distribution does not create the device node for you, you must create a node.

Check whether there is already a device node by issuing the following command:
```
# find /dev -name watchdog
```
If your distribution provides the watchdog device driver as a separate module, be sure to load the module before you check for the node.
If there is no node, use major number 10 and minor number 130 to create one.
Issue
```
# mknod /dev/watchdog c 10 130
```