{"id":9379,"date":"2021-01-07T18:31:45","date_gmt":"2021-01-07T23:31:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/local.brightwhiz\/?p=9379"},"modified":"2021-01-07T18:31:45","modified_gmt":"2021-01-07T23:31:45","slug":"hard-links-and-symbolic-links-linux-comparison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/local.brightwhiz\/hard-links-and-symbolic-links-linux-comparison\/","title":{"rendered":"A Hard Links and Symbolic Links Simple Comparison"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

These are the general differences between hard links and symbolic links on a Linux system that allow convenient links to files on the filesystem<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hard links and symbolic links are the two pointers to files or directories in a Linux<\/a> file system. It is important to note that hard links cannot be used on a directory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A hard link is a synchronized copy of a file that refers directly to the inode of a file. On the other hand, Symbolic links are shortcuts to files. They point directly to the file which refers to the inode. So what is an inode?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inodes, Hard Links, and Symbolic Links<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The inode is a database that describes the file and directory attributes such as metadata and the physical location on the hard drive in numerical format. Linux operating systems use this metadata to retrieve information about the file such as roles and permissions<\/a> and the physical location of the data on the hard drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hard Links<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A hard link points to the file via this inode. Therefore when you change the original file details the hard link still retains its reference. Because of this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n