LN

ln − make links between files

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)

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

−i, −−interactive

prompt whether to remove destinations

−L, −−logical

make hard links to symbolic link references

−n, −−no−dereference

treat destination that is a symlink to a directory as if it were a normal file

−P, −−physical

make hard links directly to symbolic links

−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:

Using −s ignores −L and −P. Otherwise, the last option specified controls behavior when the source is a symbolic link, defaulting to −P.

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

Written by Mike Parker and David MacKenzie.

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/>
Report ln translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>

Copyright © 2010 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.

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.