LN(1) User Commands LN(1)
NAME
ln - make links between files
SYNOPSIS
ln [OPTION]... [-T] TARGET LINK_NAME
ln [OPTION]... TARGET
ln [OPTION]... TARGET... DIRECTORY
ln [OPTION]... -t DIRECTORY TARGET...
DESCRIPTION
In the 1st form, create a link to TARGET with the name LINK_NAME. In
the 2nd form, create a link to TARGET in the current directory. In the
3rd and 4th forms, create links to each TARGET in DIRECTORY. Create
hard links by default, symbolic links with --symbolic. By default, each
destination (name of new link) should not already exist. When creating
hard links, each TARGET must exist. Symbolic links can hold arbitrary
text; if later resolved, a relative link is interpreted in relation to
its parent directory.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
--backup[=CONTROL]
make a backup of each existing destination file
-b like --backup but does not accept an argument
-d, -F, --directory
allow the superuser to attempt to hard link directories (this
will probably fail due to system restrictions, even for the supe-
ruser)
-f, --force
remove existing destination files
-i, --interactive
prompt whether to remove destinations
-L, --logical
dereference TARGETs that are symbolic links
-n, --no-dereference
treat LINK_NAME as a normal file if it is a symbolic link to a
directory
-P, --physical
make hard links directly to symbolic links
-r, --relative
with -s, create links relative to link location
-s, --symbolic
make symbolic links instead of hard links
-S, --suffix=SUFFIX
override the usual backup suffix
-t, --target-directory=DIRECTORY
specify the DIRECTORY in which to create the links
-T, --no-target-directory
treat LINK_NAME as a normal file always
-v, --verbose
print name of each linked file
--help display this help and exit
--version
output version information and exit
The backup suffix is '~', unless set with --suffix or SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUF-
FIX. The version control method may be selected via the --backup option
or through the VERSION_CONTROL environment variable. Here are the val-
ues:
none, off
never make backups (even if --backup is given)
numbered, t
make numbered backups
existing, nil
numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise
simple, never
always make simple backups
Using -s ignores -L and -P. Otherwise, the last option specified con-
trols behavior when a TARGET is a symbolic link, defaulting to -P.
AUTHOR
Written by Mike Parker and David MacKenzie.
REPORTING BUGS
GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>
SEE ALSO
link(2), symlink(2)
Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ln>
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) ln invocation'
Packaged by Debian (9.7-3)
Copyright © 2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/li-
censes/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
GNU coreutils 9.7 June 2025 LN(1)
Generated by dwww version 1.16 on Tue Dec 16 04:40:43 CET 2025.