1 .\" DO NOT MODIFY THIS FILE! It was generated by help2man 1.35.
2 .TH LN "1" "April 2010" "GNU coreutils 8.5" "User Commands"
4 ln \- make links between files
7 [\fIOPTION\fR]... [\fI-T\fR] \fITARGET LINK_NAME (1st form)\fR
10 [\fIOPTION\fR]... \fITARGET (2nd form)\fR
13 [\fIOPTION\fR]... \fITARGET\fR... \fIDIRECTORY (3rd form)\fR
16 [\fIOPTION\fR]... \fI-t DIRECTORY TARGET\fR... \fI(4th form)\fR
18 .\" Add any additional description here
20 In the 1st form, create a link to TARGET with the name LINK_NAME.
21 In the 2nd form, create a link to TARGET in the current directory.
22 In the 3rd and 4th forms, create links to each TARGET in DIRECTORY.
23 Create hard links by default, symbolic links with \fB\-\-symbolic\fR.
24 When creating hard links, each TARGET must exist. Symbolic links
25 can hold arbitrary text; if later resolved, a relative link is
26 interpreted in relation to its parent directory.
28 Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
30 \fB\-\-backup\fR[=\fICONTROL\fR]
31 make a backup of each existing destination file
34 like \fB\-\-backup\fR but does not accept an argument
36 \fB\-d\fR, \fB\-F\fR, \fB\-\-directory\fR
37 allow the superuser to attempt to hard link
38 directories (note: will probably fail due to
39 system restrictions, even for the superuser)
41 \fB\-f\fR, \fB\-\-force\fR
42 remove existing destination files
44 \fB\-i\fR, \fB\-\-interactive\fR
45 prompt whether to remove destinations
47 \fB\-L\fR, \fB\-\-logical\fR
48 make hard links to symbolic link references
50 \fB\-n\fR, \fB\-\-no\-dereference\fR
51 treat destination that is a symlink to a
52 directory as if it were a normal file
54 \fB\-P\fR, \fB\-\-physical\fR
55 make hard links directly to symbolic links
57 \fB\-s\fR, \fB\-\-symbolic\fR
58 make symbolic links instead of hard links
60 \fB\-S\fR, \fB\-\-suffix\fR=\fISUFFIX\fR
61 override the usual backup suffix
63 \fB\-t\fR, \fB\-\-target\-directory\fR=\fIDIRECTORY\fR
64 specify the DIRECTORY in which to create
67 \fB\-T\fR, \fB\-\-no\-target\-directory\fR
68 treat LINK_NAME as a normal file
70 \fB\-v\fR, \fB\-\-verbose\fR
71 print name of each linked file
74 display this help and exit
77 output version information and exit
79 The backup suffix is `~', unless set with \fB\-\-suffix\fR or SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX.
80 The version control method may be selected via the \fB\-\-backup\fR option or through
81 the VERSION_CONTROL environment variable. Here are the values:
83 Using \fB\-s\fR ignores \fB\-L\fR and \fB\-P\fR. Otherwise, the last option specified controls
84 behavior when the source is a symbolic link, defaulting to \fB\-P\fR.
87 never make backups (even if \fB\-\-backup\fR is given)
93 numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise
96 always make simple backups
98 Written by Mike Parker and David MacKenzie.
100 Report ln bugs to bug\-coreutils@gnu.org
102 GNU coreutils home page: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
104 General help using GNU software: <http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
106 Report ln translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>
108 Copyright \(co 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
109 License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
111 This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
112 There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
116 The full documentation for
118 is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the
122 programs are properly installed at your site, the command
124 .B info coreutils \(aqln invocation\(aq
126 should give you access to the complete manual.