@@ -686,14 +686,14 @@ func (daemon *Daemon) RegisterLink(parent, child *Container, alias string) error

 func (daemon *Daemon) RegisterLinks(container *Container, hostConfig *runconfig.HostConfig) error {

 	if hostConfig != nil && hostConfig.Links != nil {

 		for _, l := range hostConfig.Links {

-			parts, err := parsers.PartParser("name:alias", l)

+			name, alias, err := parsers.ParseLink(l)

 			if err != nil {

 				return err

 			}

-			child, err := daemon.Get(parts["name"])

+			child, err := daemon.Get(name)

 			if err != nil {

 				//An error from daemon.Get() means this name could not be found

-				return fmt.Errorf("Could not get container for %s", parts["name"])

+				return fmt.Errorf("Could not get container for %s", name)

 			}

 			for child.hostConfig.NetworkMode.IsContainer() {

 				parts := strings.SplitN(string(child.hostConfig.NetworkMode), ":", 2)

@@ -705,7 +705,7 @@ func (daemon *Daemon) RegisterLinks(container *Container, hostConfig *runconfig.

 			if child.hostConfig.NetworkMode.IsHost() {

 				return runconfig.ErrConflictHostNetworkAndLinks

 			}

-			if err := daemon.RegisterLink(container, child, parts["alias"]); err != nil {

+			if err := daemon.RegisterLink(container, child, alias); err != nil {

 				return err

 			}

 		}

@@ -133,7 +133,8 @@ two memory nodes.

    Read labels from a file. Delimit each label with an EOL.

 **--link**=[]

-   Add link to another container in the form of <name or id>:alias

+   Add link to another container in the form of <name or id>:alias or just

+   <name or id> in which case the alias will match the name.

 **--lxc-conf**=[]

    (lxc exec-driver only) Add custom lxc options --lxc-conf="lxc.cgroup.cpuset.cpus = 0,1"

@@ -232,7 +232,8 @@ ENTRYPOINT.

    Read in a line delimited file of labels

 **--link**=[]

-   Add link to another container in the form of <name or id>:alias

+   Add link to another container in the form of <name or id>:alias or just <name or id>

+in which case the alias will match the name

    If the operator

 uses **--link** when starting the new client container, then the client

@@ -2136,6 +2136,12 @@ Guide.

 The `--link` flag will link the container named `/redis` into the newly

 created container with the alias `redis`. The new container can access the

 network and environment of the `redis` container via environment variables.

+The `--link` flag will also just accept the form `<name or id>` in which case

+the alias will match the name. For instance, you could have written the previous

+example as:

+

+    $ docker run --link redis --name console ubuntu bash

+

 The `--name` flag will assign the name `console` to the newly created

 container.

@@ -927,7 +927,7 @@ or override the Dockerfile's exposed defaults:

                    Both hostPort and containerPort can be specified as a range of ports. 

                    When specifying ranges for both, the number of container ports in the range must match the number of host ports in the range. (e.g., `-p 1234-1236:1234-1236/tcp`)

                    (use 'docker port' to see the actual mapping)

-    --link=""  : Add link to another container (<name or id>:alias)

+    --link=""  : Add link to another container (<name or id>:alias or <name or id>)

 As mentioned previously, `EXPOSE` (and `--expose`) makes ports available

 **in** a container for incoming connections. The port number on the

@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ You can also use `docker inspect` to return the container's name.

     $ docker inspect -f "{{ .Name }}" aed84ee21bde

     /web

-> **Note:** 

+> **Note:**

 > Container names have to be unique. That means you can only call

 > one container `web`. If you want to re-use a container name you must delete

 > the old container (with `docker rm`) before you can create a new

@@ -151,6 +151,14 @@ earlier. The `--link` flag takes the form:

 Where `name` is the name of the container we're linking to and `alias` is an

 alias for the link name. You'll see how that alias gets used shortly.

+The `--link` flag also takes the form:

+

+	--link <name or id>

+

+In which case the alias will match the name. You could have written the previous

+example as:

+

+    $ docker run -d -P --name web --link db training/webapp python app.py

 Next, inspect your linked containers with `docker inspect`:

@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import (

 )

 func (s *DockerSuite) TestLinksEtcHostsRegularFile(c *check.C) {

-

 	runCmd := exec.Command(dockerBinary, "run", "--net=host", "busybox", "ls", "-la", "/etc/hosts")

 	out, _, _, err := runCommandWithStdoutStderr(runCmd)

 	if err != nil {

@@ -331,3 +330,23 @@ func (s *DockerSuite) TestLinksEnvs(c *check.C) {

 		c.Fatalf("Incorrect output: %s", out)

 	}

 }

+

+func (s *DockerSuite) TestLinkShortDefinition(c *check.C) {

+	runCmd := exec.Command(dockerBinary, "run", "-d", "--name", "shortlinkdef", "busybox", "top")

+	out, _, err := runCommandWithOutput(runCmd)

+	c.Assert(err, check.IsNil)

+

+	cid := strings.TrimSpace(out)

+	c.Assert(waitRun(cid), check.IsNil)

+

+	runCmd = exec.Command(dockerBinary, "run", "-d", "--name", "link2", "--link", "shortlinkdef", "busybox", "top")

+	out, _, err = runCommandWithOutput(runCmd)

+	c.Assert(err, check.IsNil)

+

+	cid2 := strings.TrimSpace(out)

+	c.Assert(waitRun(cid2), check.IsNil)

+

+	links, err := inspectFieldJSON(cid2, "HostConfig.Links")

+	c.Assert(err, check.IsNil)

+	c.Assert(links, check.Equals, "[\"/shortlinkdef:/link2/shortlinkdef\"]")

+}

@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ func ValidateAttach(val string) (string, error) {

 }

 func ValidateLink(val string) (string, error) {

-	if _, err := parsers.PartParser("name:alias", val); err != nil {

+	if _, _, err := parsers.ParseLink(val); err != nil {

 		return val, err

 	}

 	return val, nil

@@ -135,3 +135,17 @@ func ParsePortRange(ports string) (uint64, uint64, error) {

 	}

 	return start, end, nil

 }

+

+func ParseLink(val string) (string, string, error) {

+	if val == "" {

+		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("empty string specified for links")

+	}

+	arr := strings.Split(val, ":")

+	if len(arr) > 2 {

+		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("bad format for links: %s", val)

+	}

+	if len(arr) == 1 {

+		return val, val, nil

+	}

+	return arr[0], arr[1], nil

+}

@@ -123,3 +123,35 @@ func TestParsePortRangeIncorrectStartRange(t *testing.T) {

 		t.Fatalf("Expecting error 'Invalid range specified for the Port' but received %s.", err)

 	}

 }

+

+func TestParseLink(t *testing.T) {

+	name, alias, err := ParseLink("name:alias")

+	if err != nil {

+		t.Fatalf("Expected not to error out on a valid name:alias format but got: %v", err)

+	}

+	if name != "name" {

+		t.Fatalf("Link name should have been name, got %s instead", name)

+	}

+	if alias != "alias" {

+		t.Fatalf("Link alias should have been alias, got %s instead", alias)

+	}

+	// short format definition

+	name, alias, err = ParseLink("name")

+	if err != nil {

+		t.Fatalf("Expected not to error out on a valid name only format but got: %v", err)

+	}

+	if name != "name" {

+		t.Fatalf("Link name should have been name, got %s instead", name)

+	}

+	if alias != "name" {

+		t.Fatalf("Link alias should have been name, got %s instead", alias)

+	}

+	// empty string link definition is not allowed

+	if _, _, err := ParseLink(""); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "empty string specified for links") {

+		t.Fatalf("Expected error 'empty string specified for links' but got: %v", err)

+	}

+	// more than two colons are not allowed

+	if _, _, err := ParseLink("link:alias:wrong"); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "bad format for links: link:alias:wrong") {

+		t.Fatalf("Expected error 'bad format for links: link:alias:wrong' but got: %v", err)

+	}

+}

@@ -45,13 +45,6 @@ func TestParseRunLinks(t *testing.T) {

 	if _, hostConfig := mustParse(t, ""); len(hostConfig.Links) != 0 {

 		t.Fatalf("Error parsing links. No link expected, received: %v", hostConfig.Links)

 	}

-

-	if _, _, err := parse(t, "--link a"); err == nil {

-		t.Fatalf("Error parsing links. `--link a` should be an error but is not")

-	}

-	if _, _, err := parse(t, "--link"); err == nil {

-		t.Fatalf("Error parsing links. `--link` should be an error but is not")

-	}

 }

 func TestParseRunAttach(t *testing.T) {