🎁 New User? Get 20% off your first purchase with code NEWUSER20 · ⚡ Instant download · 🔒 Secure checkout Register Now →
Menu

Categories

Linux Beginner

What is Symbolic Link?

A special file that acts as a shortcut pointing to another file or directory in the filesystem.

A symbolic link (symlink) is a reference to another file or directory. Unlike hard links, symlinks can cross filesystem boundaries and link to directories. They are created with ln -s.

If the target file is deleted, the symlink becomes a "dangling" link pointing to nothing. Symlinks are widely used for version management, configuration shortcuts, and library linking.

Related Terms

Nftables
The modern Linux packet filtering framework that replaces iptables with a unified, more efficient rule-processing architecture.
Swap Space
A portion of disk storage used as virtual memory when physical RAM is fully utilized.
Linux Bridge
A software-based network switch in the Linux kernel that connects multiple network interfaces at Layer 2, enabling VM and container networking.
Firewalld
A dynamic firewall management tool for Linux that provides a D-Bus interface for managing firewall rules with zones.
RAID
Redundant Array of Independent Disks — a technology combining multiple physical drives into a single unit for performance, redundancy, or both.
ACL (Access Control List)
An extension to standard Linux file permissions that allows setting fine-grained access rights for specific users and groups beyond owner/group/other.
 View All Linux Terms →