From the course: Learning Linux Command Line

Unlock the full course today

Join today to access over 23,200 courses taught by industry experts.

Create hard and symbolic links

Create hard and symbolic links - Linux Tutorial

From the course: Learning Linux Command Line

Create hard and symbolic links

- [Instructor] I want to take a moment to talk about a special kind of file on a Linux system. A type of file called a link. Links are files that reference other files. And they're used to avoid having multiple copies of the same file in different places. We keep one file in one location and then add a little pointer or link to other places where we want the file to appear. As we're learning about the command line, we may not have a need to create links, but it's important to know what they are when we come across them. There are two kinds of links, hard links and soft or symbolic links. Hard links, point to specific data on the disk, and symbolic links point to a file on a disk. It's kind of a subtle difference, but it changes how the resulting links work. I'll show you how to create both kinds. And if you want to explore the difference in more detail, take a look at my essential commands course for a more technical…

Contents