Symbolic LinkA symbolic link is a type of file system server that is used with file systems such as UNIX--which, as a file system, provides organizational structure for its users. Symbolic links are pointers to file system pathnames. The other link type, hard links, are multiple names for the same file and they refer to file system data blocks. Hard links, unlike symbolic links, are not able to span the boundaries of a file system.
The following applies to UNIX:
Symbolic links are created with the ln command, using the -s flag: % ln k-s
/var/log/hoyden/errors/nov95/home/hoyden/log
Hard links are created using the ln command: % ln test1 test2