LN(1)                      OpenBSD Reference Manual                      LN(1)

NAME
     ln - make hard and symbolic links to files



SYNOPSIS
     ln [-fs] source_file [target_file]
     ln [-fs] source_file ... [target_dir]

DESCRIPTION
     The ln utility creates a new directory entry (linked file) which has the
     same modes as the original file.  It is useful for maintaining multiple
     copies of a file in many places at once without using up storage for the
     copies; instead, a link ``points'' to the original copy.  There are two
     types of links; hard links and symbolic links.  How a link points to a
     file is one of the differences between a hard and symbolic link.

     The options are as follows:

     -f    Unlink any already existing file, permitting the link to occur.

     -s    Create a symbolic link.

     By default, ln makes ``hard'' links.  A hard link to a file is indistin-
     guishable from the original directory entry; any changes to a file are
     effectively independent of the name used to reference the file.  Hard
     links may not normally refer to directories and may not span file sys-
     tems.

     A symbolic link contains the name of the file to which it is linked.  The
     referenced file is used when an open(2) operation is performed on the
     link.  A stat(2) on a symbolic link will return the linked-to file; an
     lstat(2) must be done to obtain information about the link.  The read-
     link(2) call may be used to read the contents of a symbolic link.  Sym-
     bolic links may span file systems, refer to directories, and refer to
     non-existent files.

     Given one or two arguments, ln creates a link to an existing file
     source_file. If target_file is given, the link has that name; 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 source_file.

     Given more than two arguments, ln makes links in target_dir to all the
     named source files.  The links made will have the same name as the files
     being linked to.

EXAMPLES
     Create a symbolic link named /home/www and point it to /var/www:

           ln -s /var/www /home/www

     Hard link /usr/local/bin/fooprog to file /usr/local/bin/fooprog-1.0:

           ln /usr/local/bin/fooprog-1.0 /usr/local/bin/fooprog

     As an exercise, try the following commands:

           $ ls -i /bin/[
           11553 /bin/[
           $ ls -i /bin/test
           11553 /bin/test

     Note that both files have the same inode; that is, /bin/[ is essentially
     an alias for the test(1) command.  This hard link exists so test(1) may
     be invoked from shell scripts, for example, using the if [ ] construct.

SEE ALSO
     link(2),  lstat(2),  readlink(2),  stat(2),  symlink(2),  symlink(7)

HISTORY
     An ln utility appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.

OpenBSD 2.6                    December 30, 1993                             2