Difference Between Hard Link and Symbolic Link in Unix

In Unix, there are two types of links that can be created to point to a file: hard links and symbolic links.

Hard Link

A hard link is a direct link to the inode of a file. When a hard link is created, both the original file and the hard link point to the same data on the disk. This means that changes made to the original file will be reflected in the hard link, and vice versa. Hard links cannot cross filesystem boundaries.

Symbolic Link

A symbolic link, also known as a soft link, is a separate file that contains a path to the original file. Symbolic links essentially act as shortcuts to the original file. If the original file is moved or deleted, the symbolic link will be broken. Symbolic links can cross filesystem boundaries and can point to directories.

Creation of Hard Link and Symbolic Link

To create a hard link in Unix, you can use the ln command with the -f option. For example:

ln -f originalfile hardlink

To create a symbolic link, you can use the ln command with the -s option. For example:

ln -s originalfile symboliclink

It is important to note that creating symbolic links require the correct permissions, and you must specify the absolute or relative path to the original file.