====== Create Hard And Soft Links ======

**General Information**

Creating "short cuts" to files/directories. 

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===== Types of Links =====

Soft link
  * Link to a specific file location (can cross file systems)
  * Also known as symbolic link or symlink.
  * Like a simple shortcut; deleting a symlink does not remove original file.
  * Deleting original file breaks the symlink and data is gone.

Hard link
  * Link to specific inode (cannot cross filesystems)
  * Data not gone until all hard links have been deleted

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===== Symlinks =====

Example listing of a symbolic link
<code bash>
ls -l /etc/systemd/system/
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root   37 Oct 17  2014 default.target -> /lib/systemd/system/multi-user.target
</code>

Create symlink
<code bash>
ln -s /etc/motd motd-local
</code>
  * Creates a symlink to "/etc/motd" in the current directory, called "motd-local"

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===== Hard Links =====

Create hardlink
<code bash>
touch file1
ln file1 file2
</code>

List the files
<code bash>
ll
-rw-------. 1 root root       9227 Oct 17  2014 anaconda-ks.cfg
-rw-r--r--. 2 root root          0 Jun 20 15:11 file1
-rw-r--r--. 2 root root          0 Jun 20 15:11 file2
</code>
  * Notice the column with "2", meaning 2 links to the inode)

List with inode (-i) information
<code bash>
ls -li
  8419076 -rw-------. 1 root root       9227 Oct 17  2014 anaconda-ks.cfg
  8442605 -rw-r--r--. 2 root root          0 Jun 20 15:11 file1
  8442605 -rw-r--r--. 2 root root          0 Jun 20 15:11 file2
</code>
  * Notice the first column shows the same inode for file1 and file2.

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