XK0-006 System Management Practice Question
A developer creates a hard link to a file and then deletes the original file. What happens to the hard link?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The hard link still contains the data and is accessible.
Hard links share the same inode; deleting the original file removes one link, but the data remains accessible via the hard link until all links are removed.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The hard link is broken and cannot be accessed.
Why it's wrong here
Deleting one directory entry does not invalidate the inode while another hard link still references it; the link count simply drops and the file remains readable. It is tempting because symbolic links do break when their target path disappears, but hard links reference the inode directly, not a pathname.
- ✓
The hard link still contains the data and is accessible.
Why this is correct
Hard links share the same inode, so deleting the original filename only removes one directory entry; the inode's link count drops but data persists. The remaining hard link still resolves to that inode and remains fully readable.
- ✗
The hard link is automatically converted to a copy of the file.
Why it's wrong here
A hard link is another directory entry pointing to the same inode; deleting the original name only decrements the link count, so the data remains fully accessible through the remaining link. It is tempting because copying is how Windows shortcuts behave, but POSIX hard links share one inode rather than duplicating content.
- ✗
The hard link becomes a symbolic link.
Why it's wrong here
Hard and symbolic links are distinct inode-level structures; removing one name cannot transmute a hard link into a symbolic one. It is tempting because both appear as filesystem entries, yet a symbolic link stores a target path string, whereas a hard link stores a direct inode reference that persists after deletion.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
File Transfer and Remote Access
Key term
Hard link
A hard link is a directory entry that associates a name with a file's data on a storage device, allowing multiple filenames to point to the same underlying inode and data blocks.
Key term
inode
An inode is a data structure in a Unix-like file system that stores metadata about a file, such as its size, permissions, and location on disk, but not its name.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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