What is Symbolic Links (or Symlinks) in the Linux

Symbolic links, sometimes also referred to as “symlinks”, are used to create file pointers pointing towards files and directories identical to Windows shortcuts in a Linux system.

In this article, you will learn different types of symbolic links, how to create them, and then how to remove them.

Tutorial Details

Types of Symbolic Links

• 5 Ways to Follow Symbolic Links in Linux

Creating Soft links for Files and Directories

The ln command with the “-s” flag is used to create a soft link in Linux that can be followed by providing the full path of the original file and destination where the soft link will be created.

Syntax:

$ ln -s /path/of/the/orginalfile /path/of/the/destinationfile

Example:

$ ln -s /home/linuxtldr/file.txt /home/linuxtldr/Documents/file.txt

Output:

Then specify the soft link path as an argument to the file command for verification.

$ file /home/linuxtldr/Documents/file.txt

Output:

In the future, if you modify anything in the soft link, it will directly reflect the original file.

If you want to remove the soft link, you can either delete the soft link file or provide the full path of the soft link file as an argument to the unlink command.

$ unlink /home/linuxtldr/Documents/file.txt

Output:

• Beginners Guide for Readlink Command in Linux

Creating Hard links for Files and Directories

If you are able to create a soft link, then you can easily create a hard link by just ignoring the “-s” flag from the “ln” command.

Syntax:

$ ln /path/of/the/orginalfile /path/of/the/destinationfile

Example:

$ ln /home/linuxtldr/file.txt /home/linuxtldr/Documents/file.txt

Output:

Now, you can use the file command to check that the hard link is a duplicate copy of the original file and has its own existence in your system, unlike soft links.

$ file /home/linuxtldr/Documents/file.txt

Output:

In the future, if you modify anything in the hard link, it will directly reflect on the original file, and deleting the original file will also not affect the hard link.

If you want to remove the hard link, you can either delete the hard link file or provide the full path of the hard link file as an argument to the unlink command.

$ unlink /home/linuxtldr/Documents/file.txt

Output:

That’s all for now.

If you have any more questions regarding this topic, feel free to ask them in the comment section.