Understanding the Differences Between Soft and Hard Links in Linux

A symbolic or soft link is an actual link to the original file, whereas a hard link is a mirror copy of the original file. If you delete the original file, the soft link has no value, because it points to a non-existent file. But in the case of hard link, it is entirely opposite.

1. What are the differences between hard and soft link?
2. What are soft links in Linux?
3. What is the difference between hard links and symbolic links?
4. What is hard link and soft link in UNIX?
5. How do I know if I have hard link or soft link?
6. What is hard link count?
7. How do I see symbolic links in Linux?
8. How do I find all hard links in Linux?
9. How do I remove a soft link?
10. What are hard links used for?
11. What can symbolic links do that hard links Cannot do?
12. Do hard links take up space?

What are the differences between hard and soft link?

The major difference between a hard link and soft link is that hard link is the direct reference to the file whereas soft link is the reference by name which means it points to a file by file name. Hard link links the files and directories in the same file system, but the Soft link can traverse file system boundaries.

What are soft links in Linux?

A symbolic link, also termed a soft link, is a special kind of file that points to another file, much like a shortcut in Windows or a Macintosh alias. Unlike a hard link, a symbolic link does not contain the data in the target file. It simply points to another entry somewhere in the file system.

What is the difference between hard links and symbolic links?

A hard link is essentially a synced carbon copy of a file that refers directly to the inode of a file. Symbolic links on the other hand refer directly to the file which refers to the inode, a shortcut.

What is hard link and soft link in UNIX?

A hard link is a file that points to the same underlying inode, as another file. In case you delete one file, it removes one link to the underlying inode. Whereas a symbolic link (also known as soft link) is a link to another filename in the filesystem.

How do I know if I have hard link or soft link?

You can check if a file is a symlink with [ -L file ] . Similarly, you can test if a file is a regular file with [ -f file ] , but in that case, the check is done after resolving symlinks. hardlinks are not a type of file, they are just different names for a file (of any type).

What is hard link count?

In the case of a regular file, the link count is the number of hard links to that file. However, Unix file systems don't let you create hard links to directories, yet the link count on a directory is always at least two, and even increases by one for each sub-directory in that directory.

How do I see symbolic links in Linux?

To view the symbolic links in a directory:

1. Open a terminal and move to that directory.
2. Type the command: ls -la. This shall long list all the files in the directory even if they are hidden.
3. The files that start with l are your symbolic link files.

How do I find all hard links in Linux?

Hard Links are harder to identify unless you know what you are looking for. It can still be identified using the same ls command but you will need to use the long listing format by using the -l command line option. In the long listing format, the second column denotes the number of hard links to the file.

How do I remove a soft link?

To remove a symbolic link, use either the rm or unlink command followed by the name of the symlink as an argument. When removing a symbolic link that points to a directory do not append a trailing slash to the symlink name.

What are hard links used for?

In computing, a hard link is a directory entry that associates a name with a file on a file system. All directory-based file systems must have at least one hard link giving the original name for each file. The term “hard link” is usually only used in file systems that allow more than one hard link for the same file.

What can symbolic links do that hard links Cannot do?

Deleting a target file for a symbolic link makes that link useless. A hard link preserves the contents of the file. A hard link cannot be created for directories, and they cannot cross filesystem boundaries or span across partitions.

Do hard links take up space?

Yes. They both take space as they both still have directory entries.