[thirdparty/util-linux.git] / misc-utils / hardlink.1

.TH "hardlink" "1"
.SH "NAME"
hardlink \- Consolidate duplicate files via hardlinks
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.PP
\fBhardlink\fP [\fB-c\fP] [\fB-n\fP] [\fB-v\fP] [\fB-vv\fP] [\fB-x pattern\fP] [\fB-h\fP] directory1 [ directory2 ... ]
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.PP
This manual page documents \fBhardlink\fP, a
program which consolidates duplicate files in one or more directories
using hardlinks.
.PP
\fBhardlink\fP traverses one
or more directories searching for duplicate files.  When it finds duplicate
files, it uses one of them as the master.  It then removes all other
duplicates and places a hardlink for each one pointing to the master file.
This allows for conservation of disk space where multiple directories
on a single filesystem contain many duplicate files.
.PP
Since hard links can only span a single filesystem, \fBhardlink\fP
is only useful when all directories specified are on the same filesystem.
.SH "OPTIONS"
.PP
.IP "\fB-c\fP" 10
Compare only the contents of the files being considered for consolidation.
Disregards permission, ownership and other differences.
.IP "\fB-f\fP" 10
Force hardlinking across file systems.
.IP "\fB-n\fP" 10
Do not perform the consolidation; only print what would be changed.
.IP "\fB-v\fP" 10
Print summary after hardlinking.
.IP "\fB-vv\fP" 10
Print every hardlinked file and bytes saved. Also print summary after hardlinking.
.IP "\fB-x pattern\fP" 10
Exclude files and directories matching pattern from hardlinking.
.IP "\fB-h\fP" 10
Show help.
.PP
The optional pattern for excluding files and directories must be a PCRE2
compatible regular expression. Only the basename of the file or directory
is checked, not its path. Excluded directories' contents will not be examined.
.SH "AUTHOR"
.PP
\fBhardlink\fP was written by Jakub Jelinek <jakub@redhat.com>.
.PP
Man page written by Brian Long and later updated by Jindrich Novy <jnovy@redhat.com>
.SH "BUGS"
.PP
\fBhardlink\fP assumes that its target directory trees do not change from under
it.  If a directory tree does change, this may result in \fBhardlink\fP
accessing files and/or directories outside of the intended directory tree.
Thus, you must avoid running \fBhardlink\fP on potentially changing directory
trees, and especially on directory trees under control of another user.
.PP
Historically \fBhardlink\fP silently excluded any names beginning with
".in.", as well as any names beginning with "." followed by exactly 6
other characters. That prior behavior can be achieved by specifying
.br
-x '^(\\.in\\.|\\.[^.]{6}$)'
.SH AVAILABILITY
The hardlink command is part of the util-linux package and is available from
https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/.
Commit	Line	Data
cabf1c1c JN	1	.TH "hardlink" "1"
	2	.SH "NAME"
	3	hardlink \- Consolidate duplicate files via hardlinks
	4	.SH "SYNOPSIS"
	5	.PP
551e8963	6	\fBhardlink\fP [\fB-c\fP] [\fB-n\fP] [\fB-v\fP] [\fB-vv\fP] [\fB-x pattern\fP] [\fB-h\fP] directory1 [ directory2 ... ]
cabf1c1c JN	7	.SH "DESCRIPTION"
cabf1c1c JN	8	.PP
94b040b0	9	This manual page documents \fBhardlink\fP, a
cabf1c1c JN	10	program which consolidates duplicate files in one or more directories
	11	using hardlinks.
	12	.PP
94b040b0	13	\fBhardlink\fP traverses one
cabf1c1c JN	14	or more directories searching for duplicate files. When it finds duplicate
	15	files, it uses one of them as the master. It then removes all other
	16	duplicates and places a hardlink for each one pointing to the master file.
	17	This allows for conservation of disk space where multiple directories
	18	on a single filesystem contain many duplicate files.
	19	.PP
	20	Since hard links can only span a single filesystem, \fBhardlink\fP
	21	is only useful when all directories specified are on the same filesystem.
	22	.SH "OPTIONS"
	23	.PP
	24	.IP "\fB-c\fP" 10
	25	Compare only the contents of the files being considered for consolidation.
	26	Disregards permission, ownership and other differences.
348af99a JZ	27	.IP "\fB-f\fP" 10
348af99a JZ	28	Force hardlinking across file systems.
cabf1c1c JN	29	.IP "\fB-n\fP" 10
	30	Do not perform the consolidation; only print what would be changed.
	31	.IP "\fB-v\fP" 10
a272f143 JN	32	Print summary after hardlinking.
	33	.IP "\fB-vv\fP" 10
	34	Print every hardlinked file and bytes saved. Also print summary after hardlinking.
551e8963 TL	35	.IP "\fB-x pattern\fP" 10
551e8963 TL	36	Exclude files and directories matching pattern from hardlinking.
cabf1c1c JN	37	.IP "\fB-h\fP" 10
cabf1c1c JN	38	Show help.
551e8963 TL	39	.PP
	40	The optional pattern for excluding files and directories must be a PCRE2
	41	compatible regular expression. Only the basename of the file or directory
	42	is checked, not its path. Excluded directories' contents will not be examined.
cabf1c1c JN	43	.SH "AUTHOR"
cabf1c1c JN	44	.PP
94b040b0	45	\fBhardlink\fP was written by Jakub Jelinek <jakub@redhat.com>.
cabf1c1c	46	.PP
bd9a35c6	47	Man page written by Brian Long and later updated by Jindrich Novy <jnovy@redhat.com>
94b040b0 JN	48	.SH "BUGS"
	49	.PP
	50	\fBhardlink\fP assumes that its target directory trees do not change from under
	51	it. If a directory tree does change, this may result in \fBhardlink\fP
	52	accessing files and/or directories outside of the intended directory tree.
	53	Thus, you must avoid running \fBhardlink\fP on potentially changing directory
	54	trees, and especially on directory trees under control of another user.
551e8963 TL	55	.PP
	56	Historically \fBhardlink\fP silently excluded any names beginning with
	57	".in.", as well as any names beginning with "." followed by exactly 6
	58	other characters. That prior behavior can be achieved by specifying
	59	.br
5aad3c12	60	-x '^(\\.in\\.\|\\.[^.]{6}$)'
bd9a35c6 KZ	61	.SH AVAILABILITY
	62	The hardlink command is part of the util-linux package and is available from
	63	https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/.