ln

Purpose

Set up a hard or symbolic link (pseudonyms) to files and directories.

Syntax

ln [options] existing_file new_name

Options

-b makes backup copy of files about to be removed.

-d creates a hard link to a directory (only root can do this).

-f removes the existing file with new_name.

—help displays a Help message.

-s creates a symbolic link.

-v displays verbose output.

Description

The ln command assigns a new name to an existing file. With the -s option, you can create symbolic links that can exist across file systems. Also, with symbolic links, you can see the link information with the ls -l command. Otherwise, ls -l shows two distinct files for a file and its hard link.