2 files changed, 19 insertions, 4 deletions
diff --git a/src/libutil/util.cc b/src/libutil/util.cc
index 097ff210a..332c1c43a 100644
--- a/src/libutil/util.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/util.cc
@@ -478,6 +478,17 @@ Path createTempDir(const Path & tmpRoot, const Path & prefix,
 }
 
 
+std::pair<AutoCloseFD, Path> createTempFile(const Path & prefix)
+{
+    Path tmpl(getEnv("TMPDIR").value_or("/tmp") + "/" + prefix + ".XXXXXX");
+    // Strictly speaking, this is UB, but who cares...
+    AutoCloseFD fd(mkstemp((char *) tmpl.c_str()));
+    if (!fd)
+        throw SysError("creating temporary file '%s'", tmpl);
+    return {std::move(fd), tmpl};
+}
+
+
 std::string getUserName()
 {
     auto pw = getpwuid(geteuid());
diff --git a/src/libutil/util.hh b/src/libutil/util.hh
index 7c3a30242..1f85c7c46 100644
--- a/src/libutil/util.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/util.hh
@@ -122,10 +122,6 @@ void deletePath(const Path & path);
 
 void deletePath(const Path & path, unsigned long long & bytesFreed);
 
-/* Create a temporary directory. */
-Path createTempDir(const Path & tmpRoot = "", const Path & prefix = "nix",
-    bool includePid = true, bool useGlobalCounter = true, mode_t mode = 0755);
-
 std::string getUserName();
 
 /* Return $HOME or the user's home directory from /etc/passwd. */
@@ -205,6 +201,14 @@ public:
 };
 
 
+/* Create a temporary directory. */
+Path createTempDir(const Path & tmpRoot = "", const Path & prefix = "nix",
+    bool includePid = true, bool useGlobalCounter = true, mode_t mode = 0755);
+
+/* Create a temporary file, returning a file handle and its path. */
+std::pair<AutoCloseFD, Path> createTempFile(const Path & prefix = "nix");
+
+
 class Pipe
 {
 public: