hardlink(1)hardlink(1)NAMEhardlink - Link multiple copies of a file
SYNOPSIShardlink [option]... [directory|file]...
DESCRIPTIONhardlink is a tool which replaces copies of a file with hardlinks,
therefore saving space.
OPTIONS-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 dif‐
ferent. It is not predictable
-t or --ignore-time
Link/compare files even if their time of modification is differ‐
ent. 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 modifica‐
tion time). By default, the newest file is kept. If --maximize
or --minimize is specified, the link count has a higher prece‐
dence 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 other‐
wise be excluded. If the option is used without --exclude, only
files matched by the pattern are included.
-s or --nimum-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.
ARGUMENTShardlink takes one or more directories which will be searched for files
to be linked.
BUGShardlink assumes that the trees it operates on do not change during
operation. If a tree does change, the result is undefined and poten‐
tially 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, secu‐
rity 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 ver‐
sions, the amount was wrong in almost all other cases as well.
AUTHOR
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.
0.3 2012-09-17 hardlink(1)
