.\" DO NOT MODIFY THIS FILE!  It was generated by help2man 1.24.
.TH LN "1" "April 2001" "ln (fileutils) 4.1" FSF
.SH NAME
ln \- make links between files
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B ln
[\fIOPTION\fR]... \fITARGET \fR[\fILINK_NAME\fR]
.br
.B ln
[\fIOPTION\fR]... \fITARGET\fR... \fIDIRECTORY\fR
.br
.B ln
[\fIOPTION\fR]... \fI--target-directory=DIRECTORY TARGET\fR...
.SH DESCRIPTION
.\" Add any additional description here
.PP
Create a link to the specified TARGET with optional LINK_NAME.
If LINK_NAME is omitted, a link with the same basename as the TARGET is
created in the current directory.  When using the second form with more
than one TARGET, the last argument must be a directory;  create links
in DIRECTORY to each TARGET.  Create hard links by default, symbolic
links with \fB\-\-symbolic\fR.  When creating hard links, each TARGET must exist.
.TP
\fB\-\-backup\fR[=\fICONTROL\fR]
make a backup of each existing destination file
.TP
\fB\-b\fR
like \fB\-\-backup\fR but does not accept an argument
.TP
\fB\-d\fR, \fB\-F\fR, \fB\-\-directory\fR
hard link directories (super-user only)
.TP
\fB\-f\fR, \fB\-\-force\fR
remove existing destination files
.TP
\fB\-n\fR, \fB\-\-no\-dereference\fR
treat destination that is a symlink to a
directory as if it were a normal file
.TP
\fB\-i\fR, \fB\-\-interactive\fR
prompt whether to remove destinations
.TP
\fB\-s\fR, \fB\-\-symbolic\fR
make symbolic links instead of hard links
.TP
\fB\-S\fR, \fB\-\-suffix\fR=\fISUFFIX\fR
override the usual backup suffix
.TP
\fB\-\-target\-directory\fR=\fIDIRECTORY\fR
specify the DIRECTORY in which to create
the links
.TP
\fB\-v\fR, \fB\-\-verbose\fR
print name of each file before linking
.TP
\fB\-\-help\fR
display this help and exit
.TP
\fB\-\-version\fR
output version information and exit
.PP
The backup suffix is `~', unless set with \fB\-\-suffix\fR or SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX.
The version control method may be selected via the \fB\-\-backup\fR option or through
the VERSION_CONTROL environment variable.  Here are the values:
.TP
none, off
never make backups (even if \fB\-\-backup\fR is given)
.TP
numbered, t
make numbered backups
.TP
existing, nil
numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise
.TP
simple, never
always make simple backups
.SH AUTHOR
Written by Mike Parker and David MacKenzie.
.SH "REPORTING BUGS"
Report bugs to <bug-fileutils@gnu.org>.
.SH COPYRIGHT
Copyright \(co 2001 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
.br
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
The full documentation for
.B ln
is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If the
.B info
and
.B ln
programs are properly installed at your site, the command
.IP
.B info ln
.PP
should give you access to the complete manual.