.Nd make links

.Nd make hard links and symbolic links (symlinks, soft links)

.Ar source_file

.Ar to_filename Brq ... Ar directory_name | Op Ar from_filename

.Op Ar target_file

.Nm

.Op Fl fhinsv

.Ar source_file ...

.Ar target_dir

.Ar source_file Ar target_file

.Ar to_filename Brq Ar directory_name | Ar from_filename

utility creates a new directory entry (linked file) which has the

command creates new directory entries

same modes as the original file.

which generally refer to existing files

It is useful for maintaining multiple copies of a file in many places

so that each file may be accessed by another filename,

at once without using up storage for the

possibly in another directory or filesystem.

.Dq copies ;

.\"so that multiple virtual copies of a file can exist

instead, a link

.\"while using storage for only one file.

.Dq points

The

to the original copy.

.Nm link

There are two types of links; hard links and symbolic links.

command is equivalent to

How a link

.Nm ,

.Dq points

except that it must have exactly two arguments and no options;

to a file is one of the differences between a hard and symbolic link.

therefore, it is not described further.

.Pp

.Pp

The options are as follows:

Two types of links may be created:

.Bl -tag -width flag

.Em hard links

by default, and

.Em symbolic links

when the

.Fl s

option is used.

Symbolic links are often called

.Em symlinks

or sometimes

.Em soft links .

The two types are described following these option descriptions

(in which the

.Qq from

file (i.e., link) to be created can be

.Ar from_filename

or a file in the

.Ar directory_name

directory):

.Bl -tag -width ".Fl f"

If the target file already exists,

If the

then unlink it so that the link may occur.

.Qq from

file already exists, then replace it.

option overrides any previous

option cancels any previous

If the

If

.Ar target_file

.Ar directory_name

or

is a symlink to a directory, do not follow it.  This is useful with the

.Ar target_dir

is a symbolic link, do not follow it.  This is most useful with the

option, to replace a symlink which may point to a directory.

option, to replace the symlink.

(By definition,

.Ar from_filename

is a file or a symlink to a file, which is never followed by

.Nm . )

to write a prompt to standard error if the target file exists.

to write a prompt to standard error if the

.Qq from

file exists.

then unlink the target file so that the link may occur.

then remove the

.Qq from

file so that the link may occur.

option overrides any previous

option cancels any previous

Create a symbolic link.

Create a symlink, instead of a hard link.

By default,

Hard links to a file are indistinguishable from the file and from each other,

.Nm

except for the filenames;

makes

in fact, each file in a filesystem appears as one or more hard link

.Em hard

directory entries by which the file's data may be accessed.

links.

All of a file's hard links have the same file owner, group, modes, and flags,

A hard link to a file is indistinguishable from the original directory entry;

and changes made to one effect them all identically,

any changes to a file are effectively independent of the name used to reference

except that removing one hard link leaves the others uneffected

the file.

until the last hard link is removed, removing the file's data too.

Hard links may not normally refer to directories and may not span filesystems.

A hard link cannot be created for a file on another filesystem nor (with

.Nm )

for a directory.

(But note that the

.Qq \&.

and

.Qq \&..

directories appear as hard links.)

A symbolic link contains the name of the file to

Symlinks contain the filename of a directory or file

which it is linked.  The referenced file is used when an

which may be on any filesystem (or which may not exist,

a feature which is sometimes utilized

to store miscellaneous data in a directory entry).

Symlinks to one file may have different owners, groups, modes, and flags,

and are not effected by changes or removal of the file or other symlinks.

.Ss "Command Forms"

.Bl -tag -width ""

.It Nm Ar to_filename

That creates a link to

.Ar to_filename

from

.Ar basename ,

where the latter is the base name

.Xr ( basename 1 )

of

.Ar to_filename .

.It Nm Ar to_filename Ar from_filename

That creates a link to

.Ar to_filename

from

.Ar from_filename .

.It Nm Ar to_filename Ar ... Ar directory_name

That create links to one or more instances of

.Ar to_filename

from one or more corresponding instances of

.Ar directory_name/basename

where

.Ar basename

is the base name

.Xr ( basename 1 )

of the corresponding

.Ar to_filename .

.El

.Sh "NOTES"

The handling of symlinks by other programs is not well standardized

and tends to be poorly documented for seldom-used cases;

e.g., some follow the symlink if its name is followed by

.Qq / .

See the

.Xr symlink 7

manpage for some often-followed conventions,

notable exceptions, and related discussion.

.Pp

Hard links are created with

.Xr link 2 .

Symlinks are created with

.Xr symlink 2 .

When used on symlinks, the

operation is performed on the link.

and

A

on a symbolic link will return the linked-to file; an

functions operate on the linked-to file, while

must be done to obtain information about the link.

will access information about the symlink.

call may be used to read the contents of a symbolic link.

call may be used to read the contents of a symlink.

Symbolic links may span filesystems and may refer to directories.

.Pp

Given one or two arguments,

.Nm

creates a link to an existing file

.Ar source_file  .

If

.Ar target_file

is given, the link has that name;

.Ar target_file

may also be a directory in which to place the link;

otherwise it is placed in the current directory.

If only the directory is specified, the link will be made

to the last component of

.Ar source_file  .

.Pp

Given more than two arguments,

.Nm

makes links in

.Ar target_dir

to all the named source files.

The links made will have the same name as the files being linked to.

.Pp

When the utility is called as

.Nm link ,

exactly two arguments must be supplied,

neither of which may specify a directory.

No options may be supplied in this simple mode of operation,

which performs a

.Xr link 2

operation using the two passed arguments.

options are non-standard and their use in scripts is not recommended.

options are non-standard and their omission from scripts is recommended.

utility conforms to

command conforms to

The simplified

The