Integrated File System Introduction
Link
A link is a named connection between a directory and an object. A user or a program can tell the server where to find an object by specifying the name of a link to the object. A link can be used as a path name or as part of a path name.
For users of directory-based file systems, it is convenient to think of an object, such as a file, as something that has a name that identifies it to the server. In fact, it is the directory path to the object that identifies it. You can sometimes access an object by giving just the object's "name". You can do this only because the system is designed to assume the directory part of the path under certain conditions. The idea of a link takes advantage of the reality that it is the directory path that identifies the object. The name is given to the link rather than the object.
Once you get used to the idea that the link has the name rather than the object, you begin to see possibilities that were hidden before. There can be multiple links to the same object. For example, two users can share a file by having a link from each user's home directory to the file (see Current directory and home directory). Certain types of links can cross file systems, and can exist without an object existing.
There are two types of links: hard links and symbolic links.
Refer to the following topics for more information about links:
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