Manual: gnuln

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	 de‐
       fault,  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 rela‐
       tive 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 superuser)

       -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_SUFFIX.  The version control method may be se‐
       lected via the --backup option or through the VERSION_CONTROL environment variable.  Here are the values:

       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 controls 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: 
       Report any translation bugs to 

SEE ALSO
       link(2), symlink(2)

       Full documentation 
       or available locally via: info '(coreutils) ln invocation'

       Packaged by Ubuntu (9.7-3ubuntu2)
       Copyright © 2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
       License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later .
       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					January 2026						       LN(1)