LN
Section: User Commands (1)Updated: June 2012
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NAME
ln - make links between filesSYNOPSIS
ln [OPTION]... [-T] TARGET LINK_NAME (1st form)ln [OPTION]... TARGET (2nd form)
ln [OPTION]... TARGET... DIRECTORY (3rd form)
ln [OPTION]... -t DIRECTORY TARGET... (4th form)
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. 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
- make hard links to symbolic link references
- -n, --no-dereference
- treat destination that is a symlink to a directory as if it were a normal file
- -P, --physical
- make hard links directly to symbolic links
- -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
- -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:
Using -s ignores -L and -P. Otherwise, the last option specified controls behavior when the source is a symbolic link, defaulting to -P.
- 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
AUTHOR
Written by Mike Parker and David MacKenzie.REPORTING BUGS
Report ln bugs to bug-coreutils@gnu.orgGNU coreutils home page: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
General help using GNU software: <http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
Report ln translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://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
link(2), symlink(2)The full documentation for ln is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and ln programs are properly installed at your site, the command
- info coreutils aqln invocationaq
should give you access to the complete manual.
Index
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Time: 05:29:05 GMT, December 24, 2015