table of contents
LN(1) | User Commands | LN(1) |
NAME¶
ln - make links between files
SYNOPSIS¶
ln [OPTION]... [-T] TARGET LINK_NAME
ln [OPTION]... TARGET
ln [OPTION]... TARGET... DIRECTORY
ln [OPTION]... -t DIRECTORY TARGET...
DESCRIPTION¶
In the 1st form, create a link to TARGET with the name LINK_NAME. In the 2nd form, create a link to TARGET in the current directory. In the 3rd and 4th forms, create links to each TARGET in DIRECTORY. Create hard links by default, symbolic links with --symbolic. By default, each destination (name of new link) should not already exist. When creating hard links, each TARGET must exist. Symbolic links can hold arbitrary text; if later resolved, a relative link is interpreted in relation to its parent directory.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
- --backup[=CONTROL]
- make a backup of each existing destination file
- -b
- like --backup but does not accept an argument
- -d, -F, --directory
- allow the superuser to attempt to hard link directories (note: will probably fail due to system restrictions, even for the superuser)
- -f, --force
- remove existing destination files
- -i, --interactive
- prompt whether to remove destinations
- -L, --logical
- dereference TARGETs that are symbolic links
- -n, --no-dereference
- treat LINK_NAME as a normal file if it is a symbolic link to a directory
- -P, --physical
- make hard links directly to symbolic links
- -r, --relative
- with -s, create links relative to link location
- -s, --symbolic
- make symbolic links instead of hard links
- -S, --suffix=SUFFIX
- override the usual backup suffix
- -t, --target-directory=DIRECTORY
- specify the DIRECTORY in which to create the links
- -T, --no-target-directory
- treat LINK_NAME as a normal file always
- -v, --verbose
- print name of each linked file
- --help
- display this help and exit
- --version
- output version information and exit
The backup suffix is '~', unless set with --suffix or SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX. The version control method may be selected via the --backup option or through the VERSION_CONTROL environment variable. Here are the values:
- none, off
- never make backups (even if --backup is given)
- numbered, t
- make numbered backups
- existing, nil
- numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise
- simple, never
- always make simple backups
Using -s ignores -L and -P. Otherwise, the last option specified controls behavior when a TARGET is a symbolic link, defaulting to -P.
AUTHOR¶
Written by Mike Parker and David MacKenzie.
REPORTING BUGS¶
GNU coreutils online help:
<https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
Report any translation bugs to
<https://translationproject.org/team/>
COPYRIGHT¶
Copyright © 2022 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License
GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later
<https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO
WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
SEE ALSO¶
Full documentation
<https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ln>
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) ln invocation'
September 2022 | GNU coreutils 9.1 |