Difference Between Hard Links And Symbolic Links

Introduction:

Creating a Symbolic Link:

ln -s /path/to/original/ /path/to/linkName

Creating a Hard Link:

ln /path/to/original.file /path/to/link.file

The Difference Between Soft and Hard Links:

  • can cross the file system,
  • allows you to link between directories,
  • has different inode number and file permissions than original file,
  • permissions will not be updated,
  • has only the path of the original file, not the contents.
  • can’t cross the file system boundaries (i.e. A hardlink can only work on the same filesystem),
  • can’t link directories,
  • has the same inode number and permissions of original file,
  • permissions will be updated if we change the permissions of source file,
  • has the actual contents of original file, so that you still can view the contents, even if the original file moved or removed.

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