cmd/ln

About

ln is the Linux command for creating a link to a file or folder.

This page so far only discusses symbolic links, not hard links. (Template:Hashtag)

General Syntax

ln Template:Fmt/opt --symbolic Template:Arg Template:Arg

scenarios

• If you're in the folder where you want the link to be created:

ln Template:Fmt/opt --symbolic Template:Arg ./Template:Arg

• If you're in the folder where the existing/real file is:

ln Template:Fmt/opt --symbolic ./Template:Arg Template:Arg

notes

• A link cannot have the same name as a folder in the same directory (same rule as if it were a regular file).
• The -r option just tells ln to calculate the relative path from the link to the existing file, and use that as the link URL; see "Relative Links" below.

Errors

• The error message "ln: failed to create symbolic link 'Template:Arg': 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:
  • "'Template:Arg': File exists" (arg 1 should be Template:Arg): The link-name is the same as an existing file, possibly a folder.
    • The fact that ln reports the first param instead of the second one seems to be a Template:L/sub. Yes, the first param is a file that does exist, but that's not the problem.
  • "'Template:Arg': File exists" (arg 2 should be Template:Arg): 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).

Relative Links

Note that when ln creates a relative link using the -r option, all it is doing is calculating the relative path for you and then using that as the link's target-string (URL). You can create a relative link without -r by just specifying a relative path. There's no difference between an absolute link and a relative link except whether the URL uses any relative-path syntax (e.g. "../", or no initial "/").

Relative links will still work even if the folder containing both files (the original and the link) is moved or copied, which can be useful for making links within a portable code repository. (Git does store link-files by default.)

Notes

• LINUX: Link all files from one to another directory