Troubleshooting Hard Link Creation

E

When creating a hard link to an ordinary file, it is possible to encounter errors. This is because hard links are created by creating a new file entry in the file system that points to the same data as the original file. There are several reasons why creating a hard link may fail, and these reasons are discussed below:

A. The source file is hidden: This is not a valid reason for creating a hard link to fail. The visibility of the file does not affect the creation of a hard link. Therefore, option A is not the correct answer.

B. The source file is read-only: If the source file is read-only, creating a hard link will fail because hard links share the same inode as the original file. Therefore, if the original file is read-only, the hard link will also be read-only. If you attempt to create a hard link to a read-only file, the operation will fail. Therefore, option B could be the correct answer.

C. The source file is a shell script: The type of file being linked to does not affect the creation of a hard link. Therefore, option C is not the correct answer.

D. The source file is already a hard link: If the source file is already a hard link, creating another hard link to it will fail. This is because hard links share the same inode, and a file can only have one parent directory. Therefore, option D could be the correct answer.

E. The source and the target are on different filesystems: If the source and target files are on different filesystems, creating a hard link will fail. This is because hard links are created within the same filesystem and cannot span multiple filesystems. Therefore, option E could be the correct answer.

In summary, the correct answers for why creating a hard link to an ordinary file returns an error are:

• The source file is read-only (option B)
• The source file is already a hard link (option D)
• The source and the target are on different filesystems (option E)