NAME


ln - make links between files

SYNOPSIS


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)

DESCRIPTION


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. Create hard links by default, symbolic links with --symbolic. When creating hard links, each TARGET must exist. Symbolic links can hold arbitrary text; if later resolved, a relative link is interpreted in relation to its parent directory.

Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
--backup[=CONTROL]
 make a backup of each existing destination file
-b like --backup but does not accept an argument
-d, -F, --directory
 allow the superuser to attempt to hard link directories (note: will probably fail due to system restrictions, even for the superuser)
-f, --force
 remove existing destination files
-n, --no-dereference
 treat destination that is a symlink to a directory as if it were a normal file
-i, --interactive
 prompt whether to remove destinations
-s, --symbolic
 make symbolic links instead of hard links
-S, --suffix=SUFFIX
 override the usual backup suffix
-t, --target-directory=DIRECTORY
 specify the DIRECTORY in which to create the links
-T, --no-target-directory
 treat LINK_NAME as a normal file
-v, --verbose
 print name of each linked file
--help display this help and exit
--version
 output version information and exit
The backup suffix is ‘~’, unless set with --suffix or SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX. The version control method may be selected via the --backup option or through the VERSION_CONTROL environment variable. Here are the values:
none, off
 never make backups (even if --backup is given)
numbered, t
 make numbered backups
existing, nil
 numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise
simple, never
 always make simple backups

AUTHOR


Written by Mike Parker and David MacKenzie.

REPORTING BUGS


Report ln bugs to bug-coreutils@gnu.org GNU coreutils home page: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/> General help using GNU software: <http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>

COPYRIGHT


Copyright © 2009 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.

SEE ALSO


link(2), symlink(2)

The full documentation for ln is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and ln programs are properly installed at your site, the command
info coreutils 'ln invocation'
should give you access to the complete manual.

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