One hardlink is locked. How do I remove the other?

Question

I have several executables in different directories that are hard links to the same data.

.
|-- file 1
`-- cache
    `-- foo.exe
`-- bar
    `-- foo.exe <-hard link to .\cache\foo.exe
`-- baz
    `-- foo.exe <-hard link to .\cache\foo.exe

If one of these is currently running, I can not delete the others. I execute .\bar\foo.exe and then try to delete .\baz\foo.exe I am told that the file can not be deleted. Killing the .\bar\foo.exe process is not feasible, as it is a long running and expensive task. But I really need .\baz\foo.exe gone, because I need the name for something else.

is there a way to break the link and get rid of .\baz\foo.exe?

Answer 1

You can rename baz\foo.exe (for example, to deleteme.exe), then delete it after the process exits.

You can move the file elsewhere too, as long as it stays within the same filesystem. (Within a single filesystem, renaming and moving are almost the same thing.)