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Name

ln - make links between files

Synopsis

ln [OPTION]... TARGET [LINK_NAME]
ln [OPTION]... TARGET... DIRECTORY

Description

Create a link to the specified TARGET with optional LINK_NAME. If there is more than one TARGET, the last argument must be a directory; create links in DIRECTORY to each TARGET. Create hard links by default, symbolic links with --symbolic. When creating hard links, each TARGET must exist.

-b, --backup
make a backup of each existing destination file
-d, -F, --directory
hard link directories (super-user only)
-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
-v, --verbose
print name of each file before linking
-V, --version-control=WORD
override the usual version control
--help
display this help and exit
--version
output version information and exit

The backup suffix is ~, unless set with SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX. The version control may be set with VERSION_CONTROL, values are:

t, numbered
make numbered backups
nil, existing
numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise
never, simple
always make simple backups

Reporting Bugs

Report bugs to <bug-fileutils@gnu.org>.

See Also

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 ln

should give you access to the complete manual.


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