Create a hard link in UNIX
Contributed by qmchenry 
Tagged: UNIX A hard link is a reference to a file or directory that appears just like a file or directory, not a link. Hard links only work within a filesystem. In other words, don’t use hard links between mounted filesystems. A hard link is only a reference to the original file, not a copy of the file. If the original file is deleted, the information will be lost.
To create a hard link of the file /export/home/fred/stuff to /var/tmp/thing, use:
ln /export/home/fred/stuff /var/tmp/thing
The syntax for creating a hard link of a directory is the same. To create a hard link of /var/www/html to /var/www/webroot, use:
ln /var/www/html /var/www/webroot
See also: Create a symbolic link in UNIX
You may also like -
XP: Create a hard link reference to a file with fsutil
Create a Symbolic Link in UNIX
Pandora: How to Rip and Save Pandoras Music to MP3 Files for Free
Windows 7: How to Create Symlinks (Symbolic Links)
PHP: Delete or unlink a file on the server
MySpace: Hack to Download Any Song on MySpace -- XML Method
How Do I Start Using jQuery on my Website?
Delete Solaris files older than a certain date and time
Anonymous said on November 1, 2008
Removing the original file will not destroy the linked file, and therefore the information is not lost. The contents only disappear when all links have been removed
BnB said on January 26, 2011
I agree with karelc above.
This is a totally inaccurate title, and douches like you should pick up a linux book and get a hold of your basics, before being allowed to post articles on the web.
BnB said on January 26, 2011
I agree with karelc above.
This is a totally inaccurate article, and douches like you should pick up a linux book and get a hold of your basics, before being allowed to post articles on the web.
juhi said on February 15, 2011
hey plz tell me the advantages of hard link…why is this useful?
Bernard Valentin said on July 26, 2011
Hard links allow a file to exist in several folders while not being duplicated on disk (this is the reason hard links cannot be used across file systems). Actually, one can consider that any file is “hard linked” at least ones, in the folder it has been created. The OS and the applications do not make any distinction between the original location and the “hard linked” ones.
E.g. if you store a file in folder A and create a hard link to the file in folder B, the file will be seen by any application as existing at both places (which is not always the case with symbolic links). If you delete the file from folder A, it will still “exist” in folder B, exactly as if it has been created there at the first place. Creating hard links is thus a way to prevent losing data by deleting files by accident.
Symbolic links, on the other hand, do not prevent losing data: they are small data structures that contain the path (possibly across file systems) and name of the target file. If the target file is deleted, the data is lost and the symbolic link is “broken”.
If you want to go deeper, read how inodes are used in Un*x file systems.