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unlink(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)

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

NAME
ln, link -- make links SYNOPSIS
ln [-fhinsv] source_file [target_file] ln [-fhinsv] source_file ... target_dir link source_file target_file 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 and symbolic link. The options are as follows: -f If the target file already exists, then unlink it so that the link may occur. (The -f option overrides any previous -i options.) -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. -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 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 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. When the utility is called as link, exactly two arguments must be supplied, neither of which may specify a directory. No options may be sup- plied in this simple mode of operation, which performs a link(2) operation using the two passed arguments. SEE ALSO
link(2), lstat(2), readlink(2), stat(2), symlink(2), symlink(7) COMPATIBILITY
The -h, -i, -n and -v options are non-standard and their use in scripts is not recommended. They are provided solely for compatibility with other ln implementations. STANDARDS
The ln utility conforms to IEEE Std 1003.2-1992 (``POSIX.2''). The simplified link command conforms to Version 2 of the Single UNIX Specification (``SUSv2''). HISTORY
An ln command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX. BSD
December 30, 1993 BSD
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