View source for cmd/ln

[[category:Linux]]
'''<code>ln</code>''' is the Linux command for creating a link to a file or folder.

To create a relative link:
 ln -r --symbolic {{arg|existing file}} {{arg|link to create}}
* Relative links will still work even if the folder containing both files (the original and the link) is moved or copied.
* Note that a link cannot have the same name as a folder in the same directory.
* The error message "ln: failed to create symbolic link '{{arg|filename}}': File exists" can be maddeningly misleading. It seems to always report the existing file, even when the problem is actually that the ''second'' filename (the link-name) already exists. Translation:
** "<tt>'{{arg|arg 1}}': File exists</tt>" (arg 1 should be {{arg|existing file}}): The link-name is the same as an existing file, possibly a folder.
*** The fact that <code>ln</code> reports the first param instead of the second one seems to be a {{l/sub|bug}}. Yes, the first param is a file that does exist, but that's not the problem.
** "<tt>'{{arg|arg 2}}': File exists</tt>" (arg 2 should be {{arg|name for link}}): You've got the arguments backwards, and are trying to create a link under the same name as the existing file (to a file which doesn't exist).
===another way to think of it===
If you're in the folder '''where you want the link to go''':
 ln -r --symbolic {{arg|relative path}}/{{arg|name of file/folder}} ./{{arg|name for link}}

If you're in the folder '''where the existing/real file is''':
 ln -r --symbolic ./{{arg|name of file}} {{arg|relative path}}/{{arg|name for link}}
==Example==
I pretty much always get confused as to which is the link and which is the target, so here's an example. You're inside {{fmt/code|/git/futilities/human/ff}} and you want to create a link called "lib" to the "lib" folder at {{fmt/code|/git/futilities/lib}}:
 ln -r --symbolic ../../lib/ ./lib
==Notes==
* [http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1347105/linux-link-all-files-from-one-to-another-directory LINUX: Link all files from one to another directory]