symlink(2)

1SYMLINK(2)                 Linux Programmer's Manual                SYMLINK(2)
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NAME

6       symlink - make a new name for a file
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SYNOPSIS

9       #include <unistd.h>
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11       int symlink(const char *oldpath, const char *newpath);
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DESCRIPTION

14       symlink()  creates  a  symbolic  link  named newpath which contains the
15       string oldpath.
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17       Symbolic links are interpreted at run-time as if the  contents  of  the
18       link  had  been substituted into the path being followed to find a file
19       or directory.
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21       Symbolic links may contain ..  path components, which (if used  at  the
22       start of the link) refer to the parent directories of that in which the
23       link resides.
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25       A symbolic link (also known as a soft link) may point  to  an  existing
26       file  or  to  a nonexistent one; the latter case is known as a dangling
27       link.
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29       The permissions of a symbolic link are  irrelevant;  the  ownership  is
30       ignored  when following the link, but is checked when removal or renam‐
31       ing of the link is requested and the link is in a  directory  with  the
32       sticky bit (S_ISVTX) set.
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34       If newpath exists it will not be overwritten.
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RETURN VALUE

37       On  success,  zero is returned.  On error, -1 is returned, and errno is
38       set appropriately.
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ERRORS

41       EACCES Write access to the directory containing newpath is  denied,  or
42              one  of  the  directories  in the path prefix of newpath did not
43              allow search permission.  (See also path_resolution(2).)
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45       EEXIST newpath already exists.
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47       EFAULT oldpath or newpath points outside your accessible address space.
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49       EIO    An I/O error occurred.
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51       ELOOP  Too many symbolic links were encountered in resolving newpath.
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53       ENAMETOOLONG
54              oldpath or newpath was too long.
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56       ENOENT A directory component in newpath does not exist or is a dangling
57              symbolic link, or oldpath is the empty string.
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59       ENOMEM Insufficient kernel memory was available.
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61       ENOSPC The device containing the file has no room for the new directory
62              entry.
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64       ENOTDIR
65              A component used as a directory in newpath is not,  in  fact,  a
66              directory.
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68       EPERM  The  filesystem containing newpath does not support the creation
69              of symbolic links.
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71       EROFS  newpath is on a read-only filesystem.
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NOTES

74       No checking of oldpath is done.
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76       Deleting the name referred to by a symlink  will  actually  delete  the
77       file  (unless  it  also has other hard links). If this behaviour is not
78       desired, use link().
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CONFORMING TO

81       SVr4, 4.3BSD, POSIX.1-2001.
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