"Neither works" is not very descriptive. What's the error message?

mkdir("c:\\automation")
   or die("Unable to create automation directory: $!\n");
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Update: Not that if you want to create multiple levels at once, you'll need mkpath from core module File::Path:

use File::Path qw( mkpath );

eval {
   mkpath("c:\\nonexistant\\automation");
};
if ($@) {
   die("Unable to create automation directory: $@\n");
}
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