On Sat, 01 May 2004 18:56:46 +0100 WipeOut <wipe_out@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: <snip> > Anyway, I now need to backup the 6 days worth of daily backups (along > with other data) to a tape and I will be using tar.. I don't want to > have to backup the full volume of 4GB if there is a way to backup the > hard links and so save space on the tape.. A hard link is just a directory entry. When a file is first created it has one "hard-link". That is, it has a single directory entry. When you create a new "hard link" you're just creating another directory entry that points to the file. Hard links are indistinguishable from the original file. Once you've hard linked a file there is no way for the system to determine which is the original directory entry and which is the directory entry you created with the ln command. > How does tar handle hard links?? Is there a switch to use or does it > handle them automatically?? > > I looked through the man page and only saw a reference to symlinks but > not hard links.. It handles them as regular files. Cheers, Sean
