What Is Soft and Hard Link in Linux?
Contents

What is Soft Link And Hard Link In Linux? 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.

A symbolic link, also termed a soft link, is a special kind of file that points to another file, much like a shortcut in Windows or a Macintosh alias. Unlike a hard link, a symbolic link does not contain the data in the target file. … The ln command then creates the symbolic 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).

Marcus Vance

Marcus Vance

Cybersecurity & Digital Privacy Researcher

Marcus Vance is a cybersecurity auditor and technology writer dedicated to educating the public about online safety, data privacy regulations, enterprise security, and emerging cyber threats.

Share this article
Twitter Facebook Pinterest