Linux / UNIX create soft link with ln command

How to: Linux / UNIX create soft link with ln command

by NIXCRAFT on SEPTEMBER 25, 2007 · 42 COMMENTS· LAST UPDATED SEPTEMBER 25, 2007

in DEBIAN / UBUNTU, FILE SYSTEM, FREEBSD

Q. How do I create a soft link (symbolic link) under UNIX or Linux operating system?

A. To make links between files you need to use ln command. A symbolic link (also known as a soft link or symlink) consists of a special type of file that serves as a reference to another file or directory. Unix/Linux like operating systems often uses symbolic links.

Two types of links

There are two types of links

• symbolic links: Refer to a symbolic path indicating the abstract location of another file
• hard links : Refer to the specific location of physical data.

How do I create soft link / symbolic link?

To create a symbolic link in Unix or Linux, at the shell prompt, enter the following command:
ln -s {target-filename} {symbolic-filename}

For example create softlink for /webroot/home/httpd/test.com/index.php as /home/vivek/index.php, enter the following command:
ln -s /webroot/home/httpd/test.com/index.php /home/vivek/index.php
ls -l
Output:

lrwxrwxrwx 1 vivek  vivek    16 2007-09-25 22:53 index.php -> /webroot/home/httpd/test.com/index.php