Search code examples
linuxsymlinkhardlink

Can a hard link ever point to a deleted file?

I understand the different between hardlinks and softlinks in Linux, but I am having trouble understanding this one problem: Can a hard link ever point to a deleted file? Why or why not? I think it can but I am not certain. An explanation would be great. Thank you!

Solution

  • Consider an example,

     $ touch aFile.txt
 $ ls -i aFile.txt  # -i is the option to look at the inode of a file
 2621520 aFile.txt

 $ ln aFile.txt 2File.txt # Hardlink the file to another one
 $ ls -i 2File.txt
 2621520 2File.txt  # inode is pointing to the same location

 $ rm aFile.txt  # Original file gets deleted
 $ ls 2File.txt
 2File.txt

 $ ls -i 2File.txt # inode survives and still pointing to the same location
 2621520 2File.txt

    Read here more on inodes.

    EDIT: stat can show you the number of hardlinks of a file. You can use -c '%h' option to view that:

    # after the hardlink to 2File.txt
$ stat -c '%h' aFile.txt 
2