xref: /original-bsd/bin/ln/ln.1 (revision e59fb703)
1.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1990 The Regents of the University of California.
2.\" All rights reserved.
3.\"
4.\" This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by
5.\" the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
6.\"
7.\" %sccs.include.redist.roff%
8.\"
9.\"	@(#)ln.1	6.8 (Berkeley) 07/27/91
10.\"
11.Dd
12.Dt LN 1
13.Os BSD 4
14.Sh NAME
15.Nm ln
16.Nd make links
17.Sh SYNOPSIS
18.Nm ln
19.Op Fl s
20.Ar source_file
21.Op target_file
22.Nm ln
23.Op Fl s
24.Ar source_file ...
25.Op target_dir
26.Sh DESCRIPTION
27The
28.Nm ln
29utility creates a new
30directory entry (linked file)
31which inherits the same modes as the orginal
32file.
33It is useful for maintaining multiple copies of a file in
34many places at once - without the `copies'; instead,
35a link `points' to the original copy.
36There are two types of links; hard links and symbolic links.
37How a link `points' to a file is one of the differences
38between a hard or symbolic link.
39.Pp
40Option available:
41.Bl -tag -width flag
42.It Fl s
43Create a symbolic link.
44.El
45.Pp
46By default
47.Nm ln
48makes
49.Em hard
50links.
51A hard link to a file is indistinguishable from the
52original directory entry; any changes to a
53file are effective independent of the name used
54to reference the file.  Hard links may not refer to directories
55(unless the proper incantations are supplied) and may not span
56file systems.
57.Pp
58A symbolic link contains the name of the file to
59which it is linked.  The referenced file is used when an
60.Xr open  2
61operation is performed on the link.
62A
63.Xr stat  2
64on a symbolic link will return the linked-to file; an
65.Xr lstat  2
66must be done to obtain information about the link.
67The
68.Xr readlink  2
69call may be used to read the contents of a symbolic link.
70Symbolic links may span file systems and may refer to directories.
71.Pp
72Given one or two arguments,
73.Nm ln
74creates a link to an existing file
75.Ar source_file  .
76If
77.Ar target_file
78is given, the link has that name;
79.Ar target_file
80may also be a directory in which to place the link;
81otherwise it is placed in the current directory.
82If only the directory is specified, the link will be made
83to the last component of
84.Ar source_file  .
85.Pp
86Given more than two arguments,
87.Nm ln
88makes links in
89.Ar target_dir
90to all the named source files.
91The links made will have the same name as the files being linked to.
92.Sh SEE ALSO
93.Xr rm 1 ,
94.Xr cp 1 ,
95.Xr mv 1 ,
96.Xr link 2 ,
97.Xr readlink 2 ,
98.Xr stat 2 ,
99.Xr symlink 2
100.Sh HISTORY
101A
102.Nm ln
103command appeared in
104.At v6 .
105