NAME

       hardlink - Link multiple copies of a file

SYNOPSIS

       hardlink [option]...  [directory|file]...

DESCRIPTION

       hardlink is a tool which replaces copies of a file with hardlinks, therefore saving space.

OPTIONS

       -h or --help
              print quick usage details to the screen.

       -v or --verbose
              More  verbose  output.  If  specified  once, every hardlinked file is displayed, if
              specified twice, it also shows every comparison.

       -n or --dry-run
              Do not act, just print what would happen

       -f or --respect-name
              Only try to link files with the same (basename).

       -p or --ignore-mode
              Link/compare  files  even  if  their  mode  is  different.  This  may  be   a   bit
              unpredictable.

       -o or --ignore-owner
              Link/compare  files  even  if  their owner (user and group) is different. It is not
              predictable

       -t or --ignore-time
              Link/compare files even if their time of  modification  is  different.  You  almost
              always want this.

       -X or --respect-xattrs
              Only try to link files with the same extended attributes.

       -m or --maximize
              Among equal files, keep the file with the highest link count.

       -M or --minimize
              Among equal files, keep the file with the lowest link count.

       -O or --keep-oldest
              Among  equal  files,  keep  the  oldest  file  (least recent modification time). By
              default, the newest file is kept. If --maximize or  --minimize  is  specified,  the
              link count has a higher precedence than the time of modification.

       -x or --exclude
              A regular expression which excludes files from being compared and linked.

       -i or --include
              A regular expression to include files. If the option --exclude has been given, this
              option re-includes files which would otherwise be excluded. If the option  is  used
              without --exclude, only files matched by the pattern are included.

       -s or --nimum-size
              The  minimum  size  to  consider.  By default this is 1, so empty files will not be
              linked. An optional suffix of K,M,G,T may be provided,  indicating  that  the  file
              size is KiB,MiB,GiB,TiB.

ARGUMENTS

       hardlink takes one or more directories which will be searched for files to be linked.

BUGS

       hardlink  assumes  that the trees it operates on do not change during operation. If a tree
       does change, the result is undefined and potentially dangerous. For example, if a  regular
       file  is  replaced by a device, hardlink may start reading from the device. If a component
       of a path is replaced by a symbolic link or  file  permissions  change,  security  may  be
       compromised.  Do  not  run  hardlink on a changing tree or on a tree controlled by another
       user.

       hardlink , as of version 0.3 RC1, improperly calculates the amount of space saved  if  the
       option  --respect-name  is specified. In previous versions, the amount was wrong in almost
       all other cases as well.

AUTHOR

       The program hardlink and this manpage have been written by Julian Andres  Klode,  and  are
       licensed under the MIT license. See the code of hardlink for further information.