ln(1)                    USER COMMANDS                      ln(1)



NAME
     ln - link files

SYNOPSIS
     ln [ -f ] [ -n ] [ -s ] file1 [ file2...  ] target

DESCRIPTION
     The ln command links filen to target by creating a directory
     entry  that  refers to target.  By using ln with one or more
     file names, the user may create one or more links to target.
     The  ln  command  may  be used to create both hard links and
     symbolic links; by default it creates hard  links.   A  hard
     link to a file is indistinguishable from the original direc-
     tory entry.  Any changes to a file are effective independent
     of  the name used to reference the file.  Hard links may not
     span file systems and may not refer to directories.  Without
     the  -s  option,  ln is used to create hard links.  filen is
     linked to target.  If target is a  directory,  another  file
     named  filen is created in target and linked to the original
     filen.  If target is a file, its contents  are  overwritten.
     If ln determines that the mode of target forbids writing, it
     will print the mode (see chmod(2)), ask for a response,  and
     read  the  standard  input for one line.  If the line begins
     with y, the link occurs, if permissible; otherwise, the com-
     mand exits.  The following options are recognized:

     -f   ln will link files without questioning the  user,  even
          if  the mode of target forbids writing.  Note that this
          is the default if the standard input is not a terminal,

     -n   If the linkname is an existing file, do  not  overwrite
          the contents of the file.  The -f option overrides this
          option.

     -s   ln will create a symbolic link.  A symbolic  link  con-
          tains the name of the file to which it is linked.  Sym-
          bolic links may span file  systems  and  may  refer  to
          directories.   If  the -s option is used with two argu-
          ments, target may be an existing directory  or  a  non-
          existent  file.   If target already exists and is not a
          directory, an error is returned.  filen may be any path
          name  and  need  not  exist.  If it exists, it may be a
          file or directory and may reside on  a  different  file
          system  from  target.   If target is an existing direc-
          tory, a file is created in directory target whose  name
          is  filen or the last component of filen.  This file is
          a symbolic link that references filen.  If target  does
          not exist, a file with name target is created and it is
          a symbolic link  that  references  filen.   If  the  -s
          option  is  used  with  more than two arguments, target
          must be an existing  directory  or  an  error  will  be
          returned.   For each filen, a file is created in target



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ln(1)                    USER COMMANDS                      ln(1)



          whose name is filen or its  last  component;  each  new
          filen  is  a  symbolic link to the original filen.  The
          files and target may reside on different file systems.

SEE ALSO
     chmod(1),  cp(1),  mv(1),   rm(1),   link(2),   readlink(2),
     stat(2), symlink(2).
















































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