hardlink - Link multiple copies of a file
hardlink [option]...
[directory|file]...
hardlink is a tool which replaces copies of a file with
hardlinks, therefore saving space.
- -h or --help
- print quick usage details to the screen.
- -v or --verbose
- More verbose output. If specified once, every hardlinked file is
displayed, if specified twice, it also shows every comparison.
- -n or --dry-run
- Do not act, just print what would happen
- -f or --respect-name
- Only try to link files with the same (basename).
- -p or --ignore-mode
- Link/compare files even if their mode is different. This may be a bit
unpredictable.
- -o or --ignore-owner
- Link/compare files even if their owner (user and group) is different. It
is not predictable
- -t or --ignore-time
- Link/compare files even if their time of modification is different. You
almost always want this.
- -X or
--respect-xattrs
- Only try to link files with the same extended attributes.
- -m or --maximize
- Among equal files, keep the file with the highest link count.
- -M or --minimize
- Among equal files, keep the file with the lowest link count.
- -O or --keep-oldest
- Among equal files, keep the oldest file (least recent modification time).
By default, the newest file is kept. If --maximize or --minimize is
specified, the link count has a higher precedence than the time of
modification.
- -x or --exclude
- A regular expression which excludes files from being compared and
linked.
- -i or --include
- A regular expression to include files. If the option --exclude has been
given, this option re-includes files which would otherwise be excluded. If
the option is used without --exclude, only files matched by the pattern
are included.
- -s or --minimum-size
- The minimum size to consider. By default this is 1, so empty files will
not be linked. An optional suffix of K,M,G,T may be provided, indicating
that the file size is KiB,MiB,GiB,TiB.
hardlink takes one or more directories which will be
searched for files to be linked.
hardlink assumes that the trees it operates on do not
change during operation. If a tree does change, the result is undefined and
potentially dangerous. For example, if a regular file is replaced by a
device, hardlink may start reading from the device. If a component of a path
is replaced by a symbolic link or file permissions change, security may be
compromised. Do not run hardlink on a changing tree or on a tree controlled
by another user.
hardlink , as of version 0.3 RC1, improperly calculates the
amount of space saved if the option --respect-name is specified. In previous
versions, the amount was wrong in almost all other cases as well.
The program hardlink and this manpage have been written by Julian
Andres Klode, and are licensed under the MIT license. See the code of
hardlink for further information.