Copy directory tree as hard links...

[Matthew Seaman]

Modulok wrote:
> What is the easiest way to copy a directory tree as hard links?
> 
> Linux has a nice little 'cp -al' flag combo to do this. The FreeBSD
> cp(1) manual page says to use pax or tar, but how do I get the ability
> to rename the file without first creating a destination file? I don't
> want an archive, just regular directory tree sitting right next to the
> original, but with a new name ... consisting of of hard links back to
> the original. For example on linux I could do something like:
> 
> $ ls
> foo/
> 
> $ cp -al foo bar
> 
> The result would be a new copy of foo, which takes up no additional
> space, as all files share the same inodes. Is there an easy way to do
> this on FreeBSD?

cpio(1)

Unfortunately the man page is pretty useless, and you have to hunt through
the info page instead.  But something like this should do what you want:

    # cd /some/dir
    # find . -depth -type f -print0 | cpio -0pdl /other/dir

It's the 'l' (link) option that achieves the desired effect. Note: this should
link only files but it will create a parallel structure of sub-directories, so
it will use up a bit of space.

Actually, now I peruse the man page, pax(1) has very similar functionality,
and you could do something like this:

    # pax -rwl /some/dir /other/dir

You might also consider using nullfs mounts. In /etc/fstab:

    /some/dir /other/dir nullfs rw 0 0

See mount_nullfs(8).

	Cheers,

	Matthew
-- 
Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil.                   7 Priory Courtyard
                                                  Flat 3
PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey     Ramsgate
                                                  Kent, CT11 9PW

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