link(1m) [opensolaris man page]

link(1M)						  System Administration Commands						  link(1M)

NAME

       link, unlink - link and unlink files and directories

SYNOPSIS

       /usr/sbin/link  existing-file new-file

       /usr/xpg4/bin/link  existing-file new-file

       /usr/sbin/unlink file

DESCRIPTION

       The link and unlink commands link and unlink files and directories. Only super-users can use these commands on directories.

       Use  link  to  create  a new file that points to an existing file. The  existing-file and  new-file operands  specify the existing file and
       newly-created files.  See OPERANDS.

       link and  unlink directly invoke the link(2) and unlink(2) system calls, performing exactly what they are told to  do  and  abandoning  all
       error checking. This differs from the  ln(1) command. See  ln(1).

       While linked files and directories can be removed using unlink, it is safer to use rm(1) and rmdir(1) instead. See  rm(1) and  rmdir(1).

   /usr/xpg4/bin/link
       If  the	existing  file being hard linked is itself a symbolic link, then the newly created file (new-file) will be a hard link to the file
       referenced by the symbolic link, not to the symbolic link object itself (existing-file).

OPERANDS

       The following operands are supported:

       existing-file	Specifies the name of the existing file to be linked.

       file		Specifies the name of the file to be unlinked.

       new-file 	Specifies the name of newly created (linked) file.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       See  environ(5) for descriptions of the following environment variables that affect the execution of  link: LANG, LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, LC_MES-
       SAGES, and NLSPATH.

ATTRIBUTES

       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |      ATTRIBUTE TYPE	     |	    ATTRIBUTE VALUE	   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Availability		     |SUNWcsu			   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

   /usr/xpg4/bin/link
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |      ATTRIBUTE TYPE	     |	    ATTRIBUTE VALUE	   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Availability		     |SUNWxcu4			   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Interface Stability	     |Standard			   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

SEE ALSO

       ln(1), rm(1), link(2), unlink(2), attributes(5), environ(5), standards(5)

SunOS 5.11							    9 Oct 2002								  link(1M)

LN(1)							    BSD General Commands Manual 						     LN(1)

NAME

     ln -- make links

SYNOPSIS

     ln [-fhinsv] source_file [target_file]
     ln [-fhinsv] 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 mul-
     tiple 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 or
     symbolic link.

     The options are as follows:

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

     -h    If the target_file or target_dir is a symbolic link, do not follow it.  This is most useful with the -f option, to replace a symlink
	   which may point to a directory.

     -i    Cause ln to write a prompt to standard error if the target file exists.  If the response from the standard input begins with the char-
	   acter 'y' or 'Y', then unlink the target file so that the link may occur.  Otherwise, do not attempt the link.  (The -i option over-
	   rides any previous -f options.)

     -n    Same as -h, for compatibility with other ln implementations, namely GNU coreutils.

     -s    Create a symbolic link.

     -v    Cause ln to be verbose, showing files as they are processed.

     By default ln makes hard links.  A hard link to a file is indistinguishable from the original directory entry; any changes to a file are
     effective 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
     readlink(2) call may be used to read the contents of a symbolic link.  Symbolic links may span file systems and may refer to directories.

     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.

SEE ALSO

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

STANDARDS

     The ln utility conforms to IEEE Std 1003.2-1992 (``POSIX.2'').

     The -v option is an extension to IEEE Std 1003.2-1992 (``POSIX.2'').

HISTORY

     A ln utility appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.

BSD
								 October 29, 2007							       BSD