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[unix-history] / usr / src / bin / ln / ln.1

.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1990 The Regents of the University of California.
.\" All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" %sccs.include.redist.man%
.\"
.\"     @(#)ln.1        6.4 (Berkeley) %G%
.\"
.Dd 
.Dt LN 1
.Os BSD 4
.Sh NAME
.Nm ln
.Nd make links
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm ln
.Op Fl s Ar source_file
.Op  target_file
.Nm ln
.Op Fl s
.Ar source_file ... target_dir
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm ln
utility creates a new
directory entry (a link)
for a file which
inherits the same modes.
The entry behaves in most cases as if it were the
original file.
It is useful for keeping groups of files together
in directories, but with out multiple copies of the same file.
There are two kinds of links: hard links and symbolic links.
.Pp
By default
.Nm ln
makes
.Em hard
links.
A hard link to a file is indistinguishable from the
original directory entry; any changes to a
file are effective independent of the name used
to reference the file.  Hard links may not refer to directories
(unless the proper incantations are supplied) and may not span
file systems.
.Pp
Options:
.Tp Fl s
Create symbolic links.
A symbolic link contains the name of the file to
which it is linked.  The referenced file is used when an
.Xr open  2
operation is performed on the link.
A
.Xr stat  2
on a symbolic link will return the linked-to file; an
.Xr lstat  2
must be done to obtain information about the link.
The
.Xr 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.
.Tp
.Pp
Given one or two arguments,
.Nm ln
creates a link to an existing file
.Ar source_file  .
If
.Ar target_file
is given, the link has that name;
.Ar 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
.Ar source_file  .
.Pp
Given more than two arguments,
.Nm ln
makes links in
.Ar target_dir
to all the named source files.
The links made will have the same name as the files being linked to.
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr rm 1 ,
.Xr cp 1 ,
.Xr mv 1 ,
.Xr link 2 ,
.Xr readlink 2 ,
.Xr stat 2 ,
.Xr symlink 2
.Sh HISTORY
A
.Nm ln
command appeared in Version 6 AT&T Unix.