sudo mkdir /var/memdir #### tmpfs /var/memdir tmpfs nodev,nosuid,size=1M 0 0 #### use warnings; use strict; use File::Touch; my $lock = '/var/memdir/script.lock'; exit if -e $lock; touch($lock); # dies on error by default printf "Exists after create: %d\n", -e $lock // 0; # do stuff unlink $lock or die "Can't delete the damned lock file $lock: $!"; printf "Exists after delete: %d\n", -e $lock // 0; #### spek@scelia ~/scratch $ perl script.pl Exists after create: 1 Exists after delete: 0