{ "content": [ { "type": "text", "text": "# hardlink(1) (man)\n\n## TLDR\n\n> Consolidate duplicate files by replacing them with hard links.\n\n- Perform a dry run without modifying files:\n `hardlink {{-n|--dry-run}} {{path/to/directory}}`\n- Hardlink duplicate files in a directory:\n `hardlink {{path/to/directory}}`\n- Hardlink duplicate files in multiple directories:\n `hardlink {{path/to/directory1 path/to/directory2 ...}}`\n- Display verbose output while hardlinking:\n `hardlink {{-v|--verbose}} {{path/to/directory}}`\n- Only consider files with a minimum size:\n `hardlink {{-s|--minimum-size}} {{size}} {{path/to/directory}}`\n\n*Source: tldr-pages*\n\n---\n\n**Summary:** hardlink - link multiple copies of a file\n\n**Synopsis:** hardlink [options] [directory|file]...\n\n## Flags\n\n| Flag | Long | Arg | Description |\n|------|------|-----|-------------|\n| -h | --help | — | print quick usage details to the screen. |\n| -v | --verbose | — | More verbose output. If specified once, every hardlinked file is displayed, if specified twice, it also shows every comp |\n| -q | --quiet | — | Quiet mode, don’t print anything. |\n| -n | --dry-run | — | Do not act, just print what would happen. |\n| -f | --respect-name | — | Only try to link files with the same (base)name. It’s strongly recommended to use long options rather than -f which is i |\n| -p | --ignore-mode | — | Link and compare files even if their mode is different. Results may be slightly unpredictable. |\n| -o | --ignore-owner | — | Link and compare files even if their owner information (user and group) differs. Results may be unpredictable. |\n| -t | --ignore-time | — | Link and compare files even if their time of modification is different. This is usually a good choice. |\n| -X | --respect-xattrs | — | Only try to link files with the same extended attributes. |\n| -m | --maximize | — | Among equal files, keep the file with the highest link count. |\n| -M | --minimize | — | Among equal files, keep the file with the lowest link count. |\n| -O | --keep-oldest | — | Among equal files, keep the oldest file (least recent modification time). By default, the newest file is kept. If --maxi |\n| -x | --exclude | — | A regular expression which excludes files from being compared and linked. |\n| -i | --include | — | A regular expression to include files. If the option --exclude has been given, this option re-includes files which would |\n| -s | --minimum-size | — | The minimum size to consider. By default this is 1, so empty files will not be linked. The size argument may be followed |\n| -S | --buffer-size | — | The size of read buffer used when comparing file contents (default: 8KiB). This costs some additional memory but potenti |\n\n## Section Outline\n\n- **NAME** (2 lines)\n- **SYNOPSIS** (2 lines)\n- **DESCRIPTION** (2 lines)\n- **OPTIONS** (1 lines) — 16 subsections\n - -h --help (2 lines)\n - -v --verbose (3 lines)\n - -q --quiet (2 lines)\n - -n --dry-run (2 lines)\n - -f --respect-name (4 lines)\n - -p --ignore-mode (3 lines)\n - -o --ignore-owner (3 lines)\n - -t --ignore-time (3 lines)\n - -X --respect-xattrs (2 lines)\n - -m --maximize (2 lines)\n - -M --minimize (2 lines)\n - -O --keep-oldest (4 lines)\n - -x --exclude (2 lines)\n - -i --include (4 lines)\n - -s --minimum-size (5 lines)\n - -S --buffer-size (6 lines)\n- **ARGUMENTS** (2 lines)\n- **BUGS** (9 lines)\n- **AUTHOR** (5 lines)\n- **REPORTING BUGS** (2 lines)\n- **AVAILABILITY** (6 lines)\n\n## Full Content\n\n### NAME\n\nhardlink - link multiple copies of a file\n\n### SYNOPSIS\n\nhardlink [options] [directory|file]...\n\n### DESCRIPTION\n\nhardlink is a tool which replaces copies of a file with hardlinks, therefore saving space.\n\n### OPTIONS\n\n#### -h --help\n\nprint quick usage details to the screen.\n\n#### -v --verbose\n\nMore verbose output. If specified once, every hardlinked file is displayed, if specified\ntwice, it also shows every comparison.\n\n#### -q --quiet\n\nQuiet mode, don’t print anything.\n\n#### -n --dry-run\n\nDo not act, just print what would happen.\n\n#### -f --respect-name\n\nOnly try to link files with the same (base)name. It’s strongly recommended to use long\noptions rather than -f which is interpreted in a different way by other hardlink\nimplementations.\n\n#### -p --ignore-mode\n\nLink and compare files even if their mode is different. Results may be slightly\nunpredictable.\n\n#### -o --ignore-owner\n\nLink and compare files even if their owner information (user and group) differs. Results\nmay be unpredictable.\n\n#### -t --ignore-time\n\nLink and compare files even if their time of modification is different. This is usually a\ngood choice.\n\n#### -X --respect-xattrs\n\nOnly try to link files with the same extended attributes.\n\n#### -m --maximize\n\nAmong equal files, keep the file with the highest link count.\n\n#### -M --minimize\n\nAmong equal files, keep the file with the lowest link count.\n\n#### -O --keep-oldest\n\nAmong equal files, keep the oldest file (least recent modification time). By default, the\nnewest file is kept. If --maximize or --minimize is specified, the link count has a\nhigher precedence than the time of modification.\n\n#### -x --exclude\n\nA regular expression which excludes files from being compared and linked.\n\n#### -i --include\n\nA regular expression to include files. If the option --exclude has been given, this\noption re-includes files which would otherwise be excluded. If the option is used without\n--exclude, only files matched by the pattern are included.\n\n#### -s --minimum-size\n\nThe minimum size to consider. By default this is 1, so empty files will not be linked.\nThe size argument may be followed by the multiplicative suffixes KiB (=1024), MiB\n(=1024*1024), and so on for GiB, TiB, PiB, EiB, ZiB and YiB (the \"iB\" is optional, e.g.,\n\"K\" has the same meaning as \"KiB\").\n\n#### -S --buffer-size\n\nThe size of read buffer used when comparing file contents (default: 8KiB). This costs\nsome additional memory but potentially reduces the amount of seek operations and\ntherefore improve performance, especially with mechanic disk drives. Optional factor\nsuffixes are supported, like with the -s option. This is mostly efficient with other\nfilters (i.e. with -f or -X) and can be less efficient with -top options.\n\n### ARGUMENTS\n\nhardlink takes one or more directories which will be searched for files to be linked.\n\n### BUGS\n\nThe original hardlink implementation uses the option -f to force hardlinks creation between\nfilesystem. This very rarely usable feature is no more supported by the current hardlink.\n\nhardlink assumes that the trees it operates on do not change during operation. If a tree does\nchange, the result is undefined and potentially dangerous. For example, if a regular file is\nreplaced by a device, hardlink may start reading from the device. If a component of a path is\nreplaced by a symbolic link or file permissions change, security may be compromised. Do not\nrun hardlink on a changing tree or on a tree controlled by another user.\n\n### AUTHOR\n\nThere are multiple hardlink implementations. The very first implementation is from Jakub\nJelinek for Fedora distribution, this implementation has been used in util-linux between\nversions v2.34 to v2.36. The current implementations is based on Debian version from Julian\nAndres Klode.\n\n### REPORTING BUGS\n\nFor bug reports, use the issue tracker at https://github.com/karelzak/util-linux/issues.\n\n### AVAILABILITY\n\nThe hardlink command is part of the util-linux package which can be downloaded from Linux\nKernel Archive .\n\n\n\nutil-linux 2.37.2 2026-03-06 HARDLINK(1)\n\n" } ], "structuredContent": { "command": "hardlink", "section": "1", "mode": "man", "summary": "hardlink - link multiple copies of a file", "synopsis": "hardlink [options] [directory|file]...", "tldr_summary": "Consolidate duplicate files by replacing them with hard links.", "tldr_examples": [ { "description": "Perform a dry run without modifying files", "command": "hardlink {{-n|--dry-run}} {{path/to/directory}}" }, { "description": "Hardlink duplicate files in a directory", "command": "hardlink {{path/to/directory}}" }, { "description": "Hardlink duplicate files in multiple directories", "command": "hardlink {{path/to/directory1 path/to/directory2 ...}}" }, { "description": "Display verbose output while hardlinking", "command": "hardlink {{-v|--verbose}} {{path/to/directory}}" }, { "description": "Only consider files with a minimum size", "command": "hardlink {{-s|--minimum-size}} {{size}} {{path/to/directory}}" } ], "tldr_source": "official", "flags": [ { "flag": "-h", "long": "--help", "arg": null, "description": "print quick usage details to the screen." }, { "flag": "-v", "long": "--verbose", "arg": null, "description": "More verbose output. If specified once, every hardlinked file is displayed, if specified twice, it also shows every comparison." }, { "flag": "-q", "long": "--quiet", "arg": null, "description": "Quiet mode, don’t print anything." }, { "flag": "-n", "long": "--dry-run", "arg": null, "description": "Do not act, just print what would happen." }, { "flag": "-f", "long": "--respect-name", "arg": null, "description": "Only try to link files with the same (base)name. It’s strongly recommended to use long options rather than -f which is interpreted in a different way by other hardlink implementations." }, { "flag": "-p", "long": "--ignore-mode", "arg": null, "description": "Link and compare files even if their mode is different. Results may be slightly unpredictable." }, { "flag": "-o", "long": "--ignore-owner", "arg": null, "description": "Link and compare files even if their owner information (user and group) differs. Results may be unpredictable." }, { "flag": "-t", "long": "--ignore-time", "arg": null, "description": "Link and compare files even if their time of modification is different. This is usually a good choice." }, { "flag": "-X", "long": "--respect-xattrs", "arg": null, "description": "Only try to link files with the same extended attributes." }, { "flag": "-m", "long": "--maximize", "arg": null, "description": "Among equal files, keep the file with the highest link count." }, { "flag": "-M", "long": "--minimize", "arg": null, "description": "Among equal files, keep the file with the lowest link count." }, { "flag": "-O", "long": "--keep-oldest", "arg": null, "description": "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." }, { "flag": "-x", "long": "--exclude", "arg": null, "description": "A regular expression which excludes files from being compared and linked." }, { "flag": "-i", "long": "--include", "arg": null, "description": "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." }, { "flag": "-s", "long": "--minimum-size", "arg": null, "description": "The minimum size to consider. By default this is 1, so empty files will not be linked. The size argument may be followed by the multiplicative suffixes KiB (=1024), MiB (=1024*1024), and so on for GiB, TiB, PiB, EiB, ZiB and YiB (the \"iB\" is optional, e.g., \"K\" has the same meaning as \"KiB\")." }, { "flag": "-S", "long": "--buffer-size", "arg": null, "description": "The size of read buffer used when comparing file contents (default: 8KiB). This costs some additional memory but potentially reduces the amount of seek operations and therefore improve performance, especially with mechanic disk drives. Optional factor suffixes are supported, like with the -s option. This is mostly efficient with other filters (i.e. with -f or -X) and can be less efficient with -top options." } ], "examples": [], "see_also": [], "section_outline": [ { "name": "NAME", "lines": 2, "subsections": [] }, { "name": "SYNOPSIS", "lines": 2, "subsections": [] }, { "name": "DESCRIPTION", "lines": 2, "subsections": [] }, { "name": "OPTIONS", "lines": 1, "subsections": [ { "name": "-h --help", "lines": 2, "flag": "-h", "long": "--help" }, { "name": "-v --verbose", "lines": 3, "flag": "-v", "long": "--verbose" }, { "name": "-q --quiet", "lines": 2, "flag": "-q", "long": "--quiet" }, { "name": "-n --dry-run", "lines": 2, "flag": "-n", "long": "--dry-run" }, { "name": "-f --respect-name", "lines": 4, "flag": "-f", "long": "--respect-name" }, { "name": "-p --ignore-mode", "lines": 3, "flag": "-p", "long": "--ignore-mode" }, { "name": "-o --ignore-owner", "lines": 3, "flag": "-o", "long": "--ignore-owner" }, { "name": "-t --ignore-time", "lines": 3, "flag": "-t", "long": "--ignore-time" }, { "name": "-X --respect-xattrs", "lines": 2, "flag": "-X", "long": "--respect-xattrs" }, { "name": "-m --maximize", "lines": 2, "flag": "-m", "long": "--maximize" }, { "name": "-M --minimize", "lines": 2, "flag": "-M", "long": "--minimize" }, { "name": "-O --keep-oldest", "lines": 4, "flag": "-O", "long": "--keep-oldest" }, { "name": "-x --exclude", "lines": 2, "flag": "-x", "long": "--exclude" }, { "name": "-i --include", "lines": 4, "flag": "-i", "long": "--include" }, { "name": "-s --minimum-size", "lines": 5, "flag": "-s", "long": "--minimum-size" }, { "name": "-S --buffer-size", "lines": 6, "flag": "-S", "long": "--buffer-size" } ] }, { "name": "ARGUMENTS", "lines": 2, "subsections": [] }, { "name": "BUGS", "lines": 9, "subsections": [] }, { "name": "AUTHOR", "lines": 5, "subsections": [] }, { "name": "REPORTING BUGS", "lines": 2, "subsections": [] }, { "name": "AVAILABILITY", "lines": 6, "subsections": [] } ] } }