LFCS Question #667: Real Exam Question with Answer & Explanation

Question

Which of the following pieces of information of an existing file is changed when a hard link pointing to that file is created?

Options

• AFile size
• BModify timestamp
• CLink count
• DInode number
• EPermissions

Explanation

When a hard link is created for an existing file, only the link count of that file is updated.

Common mistakes.

• A. A hard link simply provides another name for the same file data, so creating one does not change the actual size of the file content.
• B. The modify timestamp (mtime) is updated only when the content of the file changes, not when a hard link is created; however, the change timestamp (ctime) would be updated due to metadata alteration.
• D. Hard links share the same inode number, as they all point to the identical data on the disk; creating a new hard link does not change the inode number itself.
• E. Permissions are stored in the inode and are shared by all hard links to that inode; creating a new hard link does not alter the existing permissions of the file.

Concept tested. Hard links and file metadata

Reference. https://linux.die.net/man/1/ln

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