suresh What is the difference between soft link (symbolic link) and hard link in Linux?
Soft link and hard link are two types of links that can be created in Linux. The main difference between them lies in how they reference the original file or directory.
Soft Link (Symbolic Link)
A soft link, also known as a symbolic link, is a special type of file that points to the original file or directory using a symbolic path. When you create a soft link, it creates a new file that references the original file or directory.
- Can link to files on different filesystems
- If the original file is deleted, the soft link becomes a dangling link
- Can link to directories
Hard Link
A hard link is a reference to the physical location of a file on the disk. When you create a hard link, it creates a new directory entry that points to the same inode (disk location) as the original file.
- Cannot link to directories
- If the original file is deleted, the hard link still points to the data
- Can only be created within the same filesystem
In summary, soft links provide more flexibility as they can link to files on different filesystems and directories, while hard links are restricted to the same filesystem and cannot link to directories.
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