What is the Difference Between Hard and Soft Links

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. How do I know if I have hard link or soft link?
2. Does deleting a hard link delete the file?
3. What is the difference between hard links and symlinks?
4. What are hard links used for?
5. How do I remove a soft link?
6. Do hard links take up space?
7. What happens to a hard link if the source is deleted?
8. What happen when you create a hard link to a text file and then you delete the text file?
9. What can symbolic links do that hard links Cannot do?
10. Which are characteristics of a hard link?
11. What are hard links in Linux?
12. Why is a hard link indistinguishable from the original file itself?

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).

Does deleting a hard link delete the file?

Deleting the hard link does not delete the file it is hardlinked to and the file that was linked to remains where it is. all files in your disk are actually pointers to the real data on your drive.

What is the difference between hard links and symlinks?

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 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.

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.

Do hard links take up space?

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

What happens to a hard link if the source is deleted?

If the source file is deleted ,the hard link still works and you will be able to access the file until the number of hard links to file isn't 0(zero). Hard links cannot span across filesystem .

What happen when you create a hard link to a text file and then you delete the text file?

A hard link will never point to a deleted file. A hard link is like a pointer to the actual file data. And the pointer is called "inode" in file system terminology. So, in other words, creating a hard link is creating another inode or a pointer to a 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.

Which are characteristics of a hard link?

Each hard linked file is assigned the same Inode value as the original, therefore they reference the same physical file location. Hard links more flexible and remain linked even if the original or linked files are moved throughout the file system, although hard links are unable to cross different file systems.

What are hard links in Linux?

A hard link is merely an additional name for an existing file on Linux or other Unix-like operating systems. Any number of hard links, and thus any number of names, can be created for any file. Hard links can also be created to other hard links.

Why is a hard link indistinguishable from the original file itself?

A hard link to a file is indistinguishable from the original file because it is a reference to the object underlying the original file name. ... Because a symbolic link and its referenced object coexist in the filesystem name space, confusion can arise in distinguishing between the link itself and the referenced object.