ln(1)							      General Commands Manual							     ln(1)

NAME

       ln - link files and directories

SYNOPSIS

       file1 new_file

       file1 [file2]...  dest_directory

       directory1 [directory2]...  dest_directory

DESCRIPTION

       The command links:

	      o  file1 to a new or existing new_file,

	      o  file1 to a new or existing file named file1 in existing dest_directory,

	      o  file1, file2, ...  to new or existing files of the same name in existing dest_directory,

	      o  directory1, directory2, ...  to new directories of the same name in existing dest_directory,

	      o  or it creates symbolic links between files or between directories.

       If  links  are  to  dest_directory, corresponding file or directory names in that directory are linked to file1, file2, ..., or directory1,
       directory2, ..., etc., as appropriate.  If two or more existing files or directories (excluding destination file name new_file) are  speci-
       fied,  the  destination	must be a directory.  If new_file already exists as a regular file (or link to another file), its contents (or the
       existing link) and its ACL are destroyed only if the option is specified.  The ACL on the new_file after the link is the same  as  that	of
       the source_file file.

       If  the and options are specified and the link being created is the name of an existing link or ordinary file and the access permissions of
       the file forbid writing, asks permission to overwrite the file.	If the access permissions of the  directory  forbid  writing,  aborts  and
       returns with the error message:

       (even  if  the file is an ordinary file and not a link to another file).  When asking for permission to overwrite an existing file or link,
       prints the mode (see chmod(2) and below), followed by the first letters of the words and in the current native language,  prompting  for  a
       response,  and  reading one line from the standard input.  If the response is affirmative and is permissible, the operation occurs; if not,
       the command proceeds to the next source file, if any.

       Hard links are created with the same ownerships and permissions as the file or directory to which they are linked.  If ownership or permis-
       sions  are  changed  on	a  link or file, the same changes appear on corresponding hard links.  The command does not permit hard links to a
       directory.

       Symbolic links are created with the ownership of the creator and the permissions are of the creator's current  umask.   Once  created,  the
       symbolic link ownership and permissions will not change, since the mode and ownership of the symbolic link is ignored by the system.

       If  file1  is  a  file  and new_file is a link to an existing file or an existing file with other links, new_file is disassociated from the
       existing file and links and linked to file1.  When creates a link to a new or existing file name, ownerships  and  permissions  are  always
       identical  to  those  for  the  file to which it is linked.  If or is used to change ownership or permissions of a file or link, the change
       applies to the file and all associated links.  The last modification time and last access time of the file and  all  associated	links  are
       identical (see chown(1) and chmod(1)).

       For a discussion of symbolic links, see symlink(4).

   Options
       The command recognizes the following options:

	      Force existing destination
		      path names to be removed to allow the link.

	      Write a prompt to the standard error output
		      requesting  confirmation for each link that would overwrite an existing file.  This option takes effect only if used in con-
		      junction with the option.

	      Cause   to create symbolic links instead of the usual hard links.  A symbolic link contains the name of the  file  to  which  it	is
		      linked.  The referenced file is used when an operation is performed on the link (see open(2)).  A on a symbolic link returns
		      the linked-to file; an must be performed to obtain information about the link (see stat(2)).  A call can be used to read the
		      contents of the symbolic link (see readlink(2)).	Symbolic links may span file systems and refer to directories.

   Access Control Lists (ACLs)
       If  optional  ACL  entries are associated with new_file, displays a plus sign after the access mode when asking permission to overwrite the
       file.

       If new_file is a new file, it inherits the access control list of file1, altered to reflect any difference in  ownership  between  the  two
       files  (see acl(5) and aclv(5)).  In JFS file systems, new files created by do not inherit their parent directory's default ACL entries (if
       any), but instead retain their original ACLs.

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

   Environment Variables
       determines the interpretation of text as single byte and/or multibyte characters.

       and determine the local language equivalent of (for yes/no queries).

       determines the language in which messages are displayed.

       If is not specified in the environment or is set to the empty string, the value of is used as a default for each unspecified or empty vari-
       able.   If  is not specified or is set to the empty string, a default of (see lang(5)) is used instead of If any internationalization vari-
       able contains an invalid setting, behaves as if all internationalization variables are set to See environ(5).

   International Code Set Support
       Single byte and multibyte character code sets are supported.

EXAMPLES

       The following command creates and in which are linked back to the original files and

       If and/or exists in the destination directory, it is removed and replaced by a link to or respectively.	If existing file or is a  link	to
       another file or a file with links, the existing file remains.  Only the link is broken and replaced by a new link to or

WARNINGS

       does not create hard links across file systems.

DEPENDENCIES

   NFS
       Access  control	lists of networked files are summarized (as returned in by but not copied to the new file.  When using on such files, a is
       not printed after the mode value when asking for permission to overwrite a file.

AUTHOR

       was developed by AT&T, the University of California, Berkeley and HP.

SEE ALSO

       cp(1), cpio(1), mv(1), rm(1), link(1M), readlink(2), stat(2), symlink(2), symlink(4), acl(5), aclv(5).

STANDARDS CONFORMANCE

																	     ln(1)