These docs are under active development and cover the v0.20 Kobicha security model.
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ln

ln creates links — extra ways to reach a file.

ln [options] target link_name
ln [options] target
ln [options] target... directory
ln [options] -t directory target...

$ ln -s /opt/app/bin/app /usr/local/bin/app   # a symbolic link
$ ln data.csv data-archive.csv                # a hard link

There are two kinds of link, and they are genuinely different things.

A hard link is another name for the same file. The file's data exists once; a hard link is an additional directory entry pointing at it. Every hard link to a file is equal — none is "the original" — and the file's data stays as long as at least one hard link remains. Hard links cannot span file systems, and cannot be made to directories.

A symbolic link is a small file that simply contains a path. When something opens a symbolic link, it is redirected to whatever that path names. The symbolic link and its target are separate files: if the target is moved or removed, the link still exists but now points at nothing — it "dangles". Symbolic links can point anywhere, across file systems and at directories.

ln creates hard links by default, and symbolic links with -s. When in doubt, -s — a symbolic link's behaviour is the easier one to reason about.

The forms

  • ln target link_name — create one link named link_name.
  • ln target — create a link to target in the current directory, with the same final name.
  • ln target... directory — create a link to each target inside directory.
  • ln -t directory target... — the same, with the directory named first.

Options

Option Effect
-s, --symbolic Make symbolic links instead of hard links.
-f, --force Remove an existing destination file so the link can be created.
-i, --interactive Ask before removing an existing destination.
-r, --relative For a symbolic link, write the target as a path relative to the link's own location, rather than an absolute path.
-n, --no-dereference If link_name is itself a symbolic link to a directory, treat it as an ordinary file — replace the link rather than create something inside the directory it points to.
-L, --logical When the target is a symbolic link, link to what it points to.
-P, --physical Make a hard link to a symbolic link itself, rather than to its target.
-t, --target-directory=DIR Create all links inside DIR.
-T, --no-target-directory Treat link_name as a plain file, never as a directory to create links inside.
-b, --backup[=CONTROL] Back up an existing destination before replacing it.
-S, --suffix=SUFFIX Use SUFFIX for backup file names.
-v, --verbose Print the name of each link as it is created.

readlink prints where a symbolic link points. The low-level link command makes a single hard link with no options, for scripts that want exactly that and nothing else.

Exit status

Code Meaning
0 Every link was created.
1 A link could not be created.

See also