Make Links

License: PRO+ (Professional Edition or higher)
Plugin Type: File Action
Author: Diskover Data, Inc.

Overview

The Make Links file action enables users to create hardlinks for files and directories selected in the Diskover web interface. Hardlinks provide storage-efficient alternative paths to content without duplicating any data on disk.

When you create a hardlink, both the original path and the new path point to the same underlying data blocks (inode) on the filesystem. This means you can organize and access the same content through multiple directory structures while consuming zero additional storage.

Key Features:

• Zero Storage Overhead — Create alternative access paths without duplicating data

• Instant Creation — No data copying required; hardlink creation is nearly instantaneous regardless of file size

• Data Integrity — All paths access identical data, eliminating synchronization concerns

• Independent Deletion — Removing one hardlink does not affect others; data persists until all links are removed

• Recursive Directory Support — Automatically creates directory structures and hardlinks all files within

Use Cases

Media Production Teams can mirror mastering content from high-availability storage to distribution folders without duplicating terabytes of media files. A 500GB master file can be accessible from both the production and delivery paths with no additional storage cost.

Archive Administrators can create alternative organizational views of archived data while preserving the original structure. Research data archived by project can also be accessible by year for compliance reporting—the data exists once but is navigable through multiple hierarchies.

IT and Storage Teams can provide multiple paths to content for different user groups or applications. Marketing and Engineering teams might need access to the same product documentation through their own folder hierarchies without consuming duplicate storage.

Workflow Automation can stage content for processing pipelines by creating hardlinks in input directories, avoiding time-consuming copy operations. A transcoding workflow can process hardlinked files as if they were regular files, without waiting for large file transfers.

Understanding Hardlinks

Hardlinks differ from symbolic links (symlinks) in important ways. Understanding these differences helps you determine when Make Links is the right solution.

Why Make Links Uses Hardlinks:

Make Links creates hardlinks because they provide storage efficiency with maximum resilience. Unlike symlinks, hardlinks cannot become "broken" if the original file is moved within the same filesystem. Applications treat hardlinked files identically to regular files, ensuring compatibility with any workflow.

Important Limitation: Source and destination paths must reside on the same filesystem. Hardlinks work by creating additional directory entries that point to the same inode, and inodes are filesystem-specific. If you need to link across different filesystems or mount points, you'll need to use a different approach such as symbolic links or file copies.

Requirements

Diskover Requirements

System Requirements

Installation & Setup

The Make Links file action is installed via RPM package into your Diskover environment.

1. Install the Package

dnf install diskover-file-actions-makelinks

2. Restart Services

Restart the Diskover Admin service on the Diskover Web host:

systemctl restart diskover-admin

Restart the Celery service on all Diskover Task Worker hosts:

systemctl restart celery

3. Configure the File Action

Navigate to Diskover Admin > Configuration > Plugins > File Actions > Make Links and configure the settings to match your environment's path structure (see Configuration section below).

4. Verify Setup

1. Log into the Diskover web interface

2. Navigate to an indexed location that matches your configured source path pattern

3. Select one or more files

4. Click File Actions in the toolbar

5. Confirm that Make Links appears in the menu

Configuration

Configuration is managed through the Diskover Admin interface at Diskover Admin > Configuration > Plugins > File Actions > Make Links.

Configuration Options

Understanding Path Matching

Make Links uses a three-stage process to determine where hardlinks are created:

1. Match — Validate the source path against the source_path_match regular expression

2. Extract — Capture named groups from the source path

3. Transform — Apply replacements and render the destination using the Jinja2 template

Configuration Best Practice: Design your source_path_match pattern to match as high in your directory tree as possible. This allows a single configuration to work across many subdirectories and file types, avoiding the need for multiple configurations.

Default Configuration Example

The default configuration is designed for a specific environment and must be customized to match your Diskover scan paths and organizational structure.

Default source_path_match:

^(?P<root>/Volumes)/(?P<filesystem>.*)??/(?P<subfolder>HA|DMC/Mastering)/(?P<rest>.*)$

Default destination:

{{root}}/{{filesystem}}/{{subfolder}}/

Default path_variables:

- name: subfolder
  replacements:
    HA: NHA/HL
    DMC/Mastering: DMC/HL

This example configuration:

• Matches paths under /Volumes containing either HA or DMC/Mastering folders

• Captures the filesystem name and subfolder dynamically

• Replaces HA with NHA/HL and DMC/Mastering with DMC/HL in the destination

Example Path Transformation:

Custom Configuration Example

Here's an example for an organization with project-based storage that needs archive mirrors:

Scenario: Create hardlinks from /data/projects/ to /data/archive_mirror/ for compliance access.

source_path_match:

^(?P<root>/data)/(?P<area>projects)/(?P<path>.*)$

destination:

{{root}}/{{area}}_mirror/

path_variables:

- name: area
  replacements:
    projects: archive

Result:

Error Handling Configuration

The ignore_errors setting controls behavior when a destination path already exists:

For most use cases, leaving ignore_errors enabled is recommended. This allows you to re-run the file action on a selection that includes previously linked files without failures.

Usage Guide

Basic Workflow

Step 1: Select Files or Directories

In the Diskover web interface, navigate to the location containing the files you want to link. Use the checkboxes to select one or more files and/or directories.

[SCREENSHOT PLACEHOLDER: Diskover interface with files selected]

Step 2: Launch the File Action

Click the File Actions button in the toolbar, then select Make Links from the dropdown menu.

Step 3: Review the Confirmation Form

The Make Links confirmation form displays:

Review this information carefully to ensure the destination path is correct before proceeding.

Step 4: Submit

Click Submit to queue the hardlink creation task.

Step 5: Monitor Progress

After submission, you're redirected to the task status page which displays:

• Task ID — Unique identifier for tracking

• Status — PENDING, STARTED, SUCCESS, or FAILURE

• Result — List of created hardlink paths upon success

• Error — Error details if the task failed

Working with Directories

When you select a directory, Make Links recursively:

1. Creates the directory structure at the destination

2. Creates hardlinks for each individual file within the directory tree

This means a directory with hundreds of files will have each file individually hardlinked, while the directory structure is recreated (directories themselves cannot be hardlinked).

Tips for Efficient Workflows

• Select at the highest useful level — If you need to link an entire project folder, select the folder rather than individual files to save time

• Verify paths before large operations — For directories with many files, review the computed destination carefully before submitting

• Check task results — If ignore_errors is enabled, review the result list to confirm all expected hardlinks were created

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Debug Logging

For detailed troubleshooting, enable verbose logging:

Diskover Admin logs:

/var/log/diskover/diskover-admin.log

Celery / Task Worker logs:

/var/log/celery/worker.log

Web Server logs (Nginx):

/var/log/nginx/error.log

Set the log level to DEBUG in your configuration for detailed output when diagnosing issues.

Verifying Filesystem Requirements

To confirm source and destination are on the same filesystem:

# Check filesystem for source path
df /path/to/source

# Check filesystem for destination path  
df /path/to/destination

# Both commands should show the same filesystem/mount point

Testing Regex Patterns

To test whether your source_path_match pattern correctly matches your paths:

python3 -c "
import re
pattern = r'^(?P<root>/data)/(?P<area>projects)/(?P<path>.*)$'
path = '/data/projects/2024/report.pdf'
match = re.match(pattern, path)
if match:
    print('Match successful!')
    print('Captured groups:', match.groupdict())
else:
    print('No match - check your pattern')
"

Support

• Documentation: https://docs.diskoverdata.com

• Support Portal: https://support.diskoverdata.com

Last Updated: January 2026
Diskover Data, Inc.