Linux "ln" Command Line Options and Examples

make links between files

In the 1st form, create a link to TARGET with the name LINK_NAME. In the 2nd form, create a link to TARGET in the current directory. In the 3rd and 4th forms, create links to each TARGET in DIRECTORY.

Usage:

ln [OPTION]... [-T] TARGET LINK_NAME (1st form) ln [OPTION]... TARGET (2nd form) ln [OPTION]... TARGET... DIRECTORY (3rd form) ln [OPTION]... -t DIRECTORY TARGET... (4th form)

Related Commands

link

Command Line Options:

--backup[

make a backup of each existing destination file


                            ln --backup[ ...

-b

like --backup but does not accept an argument


                            ln -b ...

-d

allow the superuser to attempt to hard link directories (note: will probably fail due to system restrictions, even for thesuperuser)


                            ln -d ...

-f

remove existing destination files


                            ln -f ...

-i

prompt whether to remove destinations


                            ln -i ...

-L

dereference TARGETs that are symbolic links


                            ln -L ...

-n

treat LINK_NAME as a normal file if it is a symbolic link to a directory


                            ln -n ...

-P

make hard links directly to symbolic links


                            ln -P ...

-r

create symbolic links relative to link location


                            ln -r ...

-s

make symbolic links instead of hard links


                            ln -s ...

-S

override the usual backup suffix


                            ln -S ...

-t

specify the DIRECTORY in which to create the links


                            ln -t ...

-T

treat LINK_NAME as a normal file always


                            ln -T ...

-v

print name of each linked file


                            ln -v ...

--help

display this help and exit


                            ln --help ...

--version

output version information and exitThe backup suffix is '~', unless set with --suffix or SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX. The version control method may be selected via the


                            ln --version ...

--backup

none, offnever make backups (even if --backup is given)numbered, tmake numbered backupsexisting, nilnumbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwisesimple, neveralways make simple backupsUsing -s ignores -L and -P. Otherwise, the last option specified controls behavior when a TARGET is a symbolic link, defaulting to


                            ln --backup ...

-P.

AUTHORWritten by Mike Parker and David MacKenzie.REPORTING BUGSGNU coreutils online help: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>Report ln translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>COPYRIGHTCopyright © 2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.


                            ln -P. ...