How to symlink a file in Linux?

Question

I want to make a symbolic link in Linux. I have written this bash command where the first path is the folder I want link into and the second path is the compiled source.

ln -s '+basebuild+'/IpDome-kernel/kernel /home/build/sandbox/gen2/basebuild/IpDome-kernel/kernal 

Is this correct?

Answer 1

How to create symlink in vagrant. Steps:

1. In vagrant file create a synced folder. e.g config.vm.synced_folder "F:/Sunburst/source/sunburst/lms", "/source" F:/Sunburst/source/sunburst/lms :- where the source code, /source :- directory path inside the vagrant
2. Vagrant up and type vagrant ssh and go to source directory e.g cd source
3. Verify your source code folder structure is available in the source directory. e.g /source/local
4. Then go to the guest machine directory where the files which are associate with the browser. After get backup of the file. e.g sudo mv local local_bk
5. Then create symlink e.g sudo ln -s /source/local local. local mean link-name (folder name in guest machine which you are going to link) if you need to remove the symlink :- Type sudo rm local

Answer 2

To the original question:

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'ln -s '+basebuild+'/IpDome-kernel/kernel /home/build/sandbox/gen2/basebuild/IpDome-kernel/kernal'

This will indeed create a symbolic link (-s) from the file/directory:

<basebuild>/IpDome-kernel/kernel

to your new link

/home/build/sandbox/gen2/basebuild/IpDome-kernel/kernal

---

Here's a few ways to help you remember:

First, there's the man page for ln. You can access this via searching "man ln" in google, or just open a terminal window and type man ln and you'll get the same information. The man page clearly states:

ln [OPTION]... [-T] TARGET LINK_NAME (1st form)

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If having to search or read through a man page every time isn't for you, maybe you'll have an easier time remembering that all nix commands work the same way:

cp /file/that/exists /location/for/new/file
mv /file/that/exists /location/its/moving/to
ln /file/that/exists /the/new/link

cp copies a file that currently exists (the first argument) to a new file (the second argument).
mv moves a file that currently exists (the first argument) to a new place (the second argument)
Likewise ln links a file that currently exists (the first argument) to a new link (the second argument)^*

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The final option I would like to suggest is you can create your own man pages that are easy to read and easy (for you) to find/remember. Just make a simple shell script that gives you the hint you need. For example^♦:

In your .bash_aliases file you can place something like:

commandsfx() {
    echo "Symlink:  ln -s /path/to/file /path/to/symlink"
    echo "Copy:     cp /file/to/copy /destination/to/send/copy"
}

alias 'cmds'=commandsfx

Then when you need it, from the command line just type cmds and you'll get back the proper syntax in a way you can quickly read and understand it. You can make these functions as advanced as you'd like to get what what information you need, it's up to you. You could even make them interactive so you just have to follow the prompts.. something like:

makesymlink() {
    echo "Symlink name:"
    read sym
    echo "File to link to:"
    read fil
    ln -s $fil $sym
}

alias 'symlink'=makesymlink

^{* - well obviously they can all take different parameters and do different things and can work on files as well as directories... but the premise is the same
♦ - examples using the bash shell}

Answer 3

ln [-Ffhinsv] source_file [target_file]

    link, ln -- make links

        -s    Create a symbolic link.

    A symbolic link contains the name of the file to which it is linked. 

    An ln command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX.

Answer 4

ln -s target linkName

You can have a look at the man page here:

http://linux.die.net/man/1/ln

Answer 5

ln -s sourcepath linkpathname

Note:

-s makes symbolic links instead of hard links

Answer 6

links are basically of two types :

symbolic links(Soft): link to a symbolic path indicating the abstract location of another file

hard links : link to the specific location of physical data.

Example 1: ln /root/file1 /root/file2

Above is an example of hard link where you can have a copy of your physical data.

Example 2: ln -s /path/to/file1.txt /path/to/file2.txt

Above command will create a symbolic link to file1.txt.

If you Delete a source file than you won't have anything to the destination in Soft

when you do :

ls -lai

You'll see that there is a different inode number for the symlinks .

For more details you can read man of ln on your linux os.

Thanks