Linux File Links

A Linux filesystem has many hard links and symbolic links. A link is a connectivity between the filename and the actual data byte in the disk space. More than one filename can link to the same data.

There are two types of links in Linux OS:

Hard Links
Soft Links

1) Hard Links

They are the low-level links. It links more than one filename with the same Inode and it represents the physical location of a file.

When hard link is created for a file, it directly points to the Inode of the original file in the disk space, which means no new Inode is created. Directories are not created using hard links and they can not cross filesystem boundaries. When the source file is removed or moved, then hard links are not affected.

2) Soft Links (Symbolic Links)

Soft links are very common. It represents a virtual or abstract location of the file. It is just like the shortcuts created in Windows. A soft link doesn't contain any information or content of the linked file, instead it has a pointer to the location of the linked file. In other words, a new file is created with new Inode, having a pointer to the Inode location of the original file.

It is used to create link between directories and can cross filesystem boundaries. When the source file is removed or moved, then soft links are not updated.

We'll study in deep about both the links how to create it and remove it.