LN
Section: User Commands (1)
Updated: September 2019
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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
-
create symbolic 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 ln translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2018 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
symlink(2)
Full documentation at: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ln>
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) ln invocation'
Index
- NAME
-
- SYNOPSIS
-
- DESCRIPTION
-
- AUTHOR
-
- REPORTING BUGS
-
- COPYRIGHT
-
- SEE ALSO
-
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Time: 08:55:18 GMT, December 16, 2021