Questions tagged [symbolic-link]

A symbolic link or symlink is a special type of file that contains a reference to another file or directory as an absolute or relative path. For most operations, symbolic links are transparent and the read or write operations on symbolic link files are redirected to the files that symbolic link files link to.

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modifying matlab symbolic link

I've successfully created a symbolic link to MATLAB as suggested in the questions below: How can I launch MATLAB 2012? So I can run MATLAB from any directory. However, I've noticed that some people ...
user1282043's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
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Symbolic link to NAS

I love the "sticky notes"- program xpad. Would it be possible to use the command ln -s to link it's config folder to a shared folder on a NAS drive, to have the xpad-sessions synced on all my local ...
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Is it possible to make all files in a dir be always created as symlinks to /dev/null or ignore all writes to them in other way?

I always redirect unneeded logs that are always stored under one name to /dev/null by symlinking. But some applications create directories with files named, for example, by date. I do not want to ...
int_ua's user avatar
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why is there more than one python 2 command in ubuntu 12.04?

so while playing with some aliases I realized that there are three python commands (without taking into account the python 3 commands) in the terminal: python python2 python2.7 So my question is why ...
Heberto Mayorquin's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
427 views

Simple way to delete a file and all its links (simultaneously)

I found a lot of questions on how to delete symlinks only, or delete symlinks based on their contents, but no one has asked how to do what I want to do. Take the following example file-l -> ../...
Braden Best's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
67 views

Ubuntu Aquaris E4.5 symlink

I have an Ubuntu Aquaris E4.5 phone and looking for and easy way of transferring multiple photo's from the SD card to my linux PC. I have installed WifiTransfer which uses a file .local/share/...
xsilvergs's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
2k views

How to find files whose inode is not referenced by any directory

Okay, some time ago I found what seems to be a bug in nautilus. /tmp$ mkdir test/ /tmp$ mkdir test2/ /tmp$ echo "very important stuff" > test/important-file.txt /tmp$ ln -s /tmp/test/ test2/test ...
Luis Sieira's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
4k views

When would you want to use a Hard link instead of a soft link? An example to help Understand the difference

I have read lots of posts on What is the difference between soft and hard link but still am a bit vague on the difference. I wonder could somebody give just one or two example(s) of when you would ...
FreeSoftwareServers's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
2k views

Can you Link *Hard or Soft* to a directory and change the names of the files linked

So here's the scenario. I have a file torrent that gets updated and its so big its on a different disk, what I would like to do is create a link to where it would normally go if it wasn't so big and ...
FreeSoftwareServers's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
4k views

Move files preserving symbolic links

I have some files on an external hard drive, to which I keep soft symlinks in my home folder (many links, not just one). I need to move some of the original files to another hard drive, and I want to ...
Phani K's user avatar
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opt command not working [LLVM]

My linking looks broken. It's showing below error. $ opt The program 'opt' is currently not installed. You can install it by typing: apt-get install llvm and apt-get install llvm-3.6 shows that: $ ...
S S's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
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set shortcut for executable program from terminal

I installed a program and I want to create a shortcut. e.g. I want to type eclipse into the terminal to launch the program. I already copied the eclipse folder in /home/user/Programs and created ...
Nabil3oss's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
422 views

Linked Files in LD_LIBRARY_PATH statement not working

Is there some magic to ensure that Link files work when part of a PATH statement? I have an app that is looking for /opt/Qt/5/gcc_64/lib/libXmlPatterns.so.5 The above file is a link to a file in ...
ChadM's user avatar
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3 votes
3 answers
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Error 'File is a symlink to a non-existent target'

While working through two active buffers in Emacs, sum.cpp and template.cpp, I accidentally shut down my laptop (Ubuntu 15.04 (Vivid Vervet)) without closing Emacs, and without saving these two ...
lazarus's user avatar
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24 votes
4 answers
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symlink to already existing directory

Is there a proper way to link /home/user/app/public to /home/user/public_html, considering the fact that the target already exists? If I do ln -s /home/user/app/public /home/user/public_html, I end ...
user2094178's user avatar
2 votes
5 answers
1k views

Why not design having the softlink (symlink) and hardlink in the same "link"?

I haven't used hardlinks for a long time and never really needed them until I was asked in an interview. I read their difference from symlinks here: What is the difference between a hard link and a ...
George Pligoropoulos's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
725 views

Back up symbolic links (not the files they link to) with Dropbox

Dropbox follows symbolic links. Apparently this is useful. But I have a folder with very large data files I do not wish to back up online. I have physical backups for it. However, I have various ...
Mauricio's user avatar
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1 answer
799 views

Linux Headers and Updates

If I create a symbolic link from linux-headers in /usr/src and then an update comes along where my uname -r output changes, does that symbolic link get updated as well? Or do I have to switch the ...
cjones's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
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Broken links after kernel upgrade

After running: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade And upgrading my kernel as well as some other stuff and then running this twice with a reboot after each running: sudo apt-...
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2 votes
0 answers
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Symlinks dont work after restarts-- then restarting nautilus fixes it

I'm having some problems with soft links that direct to folders in a partition I'm using to share files between Ubuntu and OSX. When I first set everything up it all worked perfectly, but after a ...
Virgina Wise's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
55 views

Symlink problems with OSX dual-boot

I'm having some problems with soft links that direct to files in a shared partition I'm using to share files between Ubuntu and OSX. When I first set everything up it all worked perfectly, but after a ...
Virgina Wise's user avatar
12 votes
3 answers
19k views

What does the "size" of a symlink represent in ls output?

I'll start by example: $ ls -l dir1 total 4 -rw-r--r-- 4 maythux maythux 1650 2008-01-10 16:33 file lrwxrwxrwx 1 maythux maythux 7 2008-01-15 15:17 symfile -> file symfile is a symlink of the ...
Maythux's user avatar
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13 votes
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What is the Ubuntu equivalent of OSX `chmod -h` flag?

In OSX I can set the permissions of the symlink itself (instead of the thing it points to using the -h). From the man page: -h If the file is a symbolic link, change the mode of the link itself ...
Ray Burgemeestre's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
51 views

Which root paths (e.g., /lib) can never be symlinks?

VBox suggests an extremely inadequate default size for its root partition, so I had to create and mount a more realistic /dev/sdb1 to do anything useful. Despite that, / (/dev/sda1) is 96% full, and /...
Gerald Alan Miller's user avatar
19 votes
1 answer
72k views

How to execute a program from symlink [duplicate]

I have the following go program that runs with: ./hack/go/bin/wego How can I create a symlink to run this program with the command weather?
JZ.'s user avatar
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2 answers
6k views

creating symbolic link and setting environment variables

I've compiled Gamit/Globk software from the source codes. The installation directory's path "/home/sorbilene/GAMIT". I need to create links and set environment variables to run the software without ...
deepblue_86's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
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How to use a symlink in Apache Web Server

I Installed Apache2. In the the folder "var/www/html" I created a symlink to a different HDD that holds a number of movie files. My thinking is that it would be easy to access the movies through a ...
Guy D'Amico's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
3k views

how to create a symbolic link that works relative to the working directory

consider the following : x/ ph/ file1.txt -> ./../file1.txt file1.txt y/ ph/ -> /x/ph/ (this is full absolute path of x/ph) file1.txt /y/ph is a symlink for ph folder ...
Bor691's user avatar
  • 308
20 votes
5 answers
63k views

How do I share a directory between an LXC container and the host?

How can I share a folder between the host system (ubuntu 14.04) and an ubuntu lxc container? I tried mounting the folder on the host: sudo mount --bind /media/data/share /media/data/container/name/...
Max's user avatar
  • 371
0 votes
1 answer
161 views

Is it really possible to properly create a bootable USB of Ubuntu from Windows?

I was trying to create a bootable USB of Ubuntu from Ubuntu when some symbolic links errors appeared, which I explained in this question. There was no valid answer what these errors are, nor are they ...
VRR's user avatar
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122 votes
2 answers
339k views

Creating a symlink from one folder to another with different names?

I have two folders, one of which is my webserver root. I want to link it to my project folder so that I can keep things up-to-date with Git. If I try to do this: ln -s /home/user/project /var/www/...
user991710's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
6k views

How can I set a symlink from /tmp/mysql.sock?

I've tried to set a symlink from /tmp/mysql.sock -> /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock however whenever I try to do it using the following command: sudo ln -s /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock /tmp/mysql.sock ...
Matt's user avatar
  • 325
0 votes
1 answer
267 views

"Trick" AeroFS to synchronize outside AeroFS folder without symbolic links

I am trying to have a backup copy of my laptop files using AeroFS. AeroFS creates a folder in your home directory (similar to Dropbox) and syncs anything inside of it. I would like to sync folders ...
Dean's user avatar
  • 813
1 vote
2 answers
545 views

Execute binary inside symbolic link to separate LVM partition

I'm trying to execute a binary installer inside a folder, that is a symbolic link to another partition. The partition is a LVM logical volume, mapped through /etc/fstab like: /dev/mapper/slow--vg-...
geovanisouza92's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
576 views

Does Windows recognize symlinks created under Ubuntu?

Before, I dual installed Ubuntu 12.04 and Windows 7. They shared a Windows ntfs partition by mounting the partition under Ubuntu. I don't remember if the symlinks created under Ubuntu could be ...
Tim's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
5k views

How can I link two directories so that edits in one directory are reflected in the other directory?

I have a website,Foo, running on Apache. Foo's files are in the /var/www directory /var/www/foo Recently, I switched to developing with WebStorm. My webstorm directory is WebStorm_Projects/. I ...
Michael James's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
3k views

is sh a symbolic link to bash? [duplicate]

I am new to Ubuntu. I want to know if sh is a symbolic link to bash. Similarly, if "/usr/bin/awk" is a symbolic link to gawk and if "/usr/bin/yacc" is a symbolic link to bison or a small script that ...
user3747639's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
69 views

Building a Python Module Problem

I am having the following issue and am not sure how to fix. I do not know what linking is but I hear it's related to the problem. I'm trying to set up a python module: First I call in the directory ...
alvarezcl's user avatar
  • 113
0 votes
1 answer
48 views

SymLink for "/home/martin" in another disk of same machine

I'm looking for a solution for the problem like below. What ever file or DIR that i put in /home/martin DIR, should land in /home-extended/martin DIR. Reason behind this, is /home DIR has only 2 GB ...
Subbu's user avatar
  • 11
1 vote
1 answer
275 views

Link to NTFS partition broken after reboot [duplicate]

I've created a link to a folder located on a NTFS partition, in the same HDD where Ubuntu is installed. After rebooting, the link says it's broken (the link shows a lock icon to the lower right and ...
user2208447's user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
1k views

Shortcut to execute shell scipt? [duplicate]

I'm trying to create a shortcut that will run a .sh file deep in some directory without having to navigating to the absolute path. I have tried using aliases, which did not work as. Using soft/hard ...
user4985's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
2k views

How to install ACPYPE and fix the error in Ubuntu 14.04?

I wanted to install acpype in ubuntu 14.04 and I followed the comments given in ubuntu program installation guide: I have followed the following commands. acpype go to the directory in which you ...
Udhaya kumar's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
2k views

Symlinks: Can't create one because file exists, cant remove it because there is no such file

I posted this already on stackoverflow and it was suggested I ask here... I am running ubuntu 14.04 in vagrant on a windows 7 pc. I am running VirtualBox and git bash as administrator. I've created ...
Shane's user avatar
  • 111
1 vote
1 answer
1k views

Link to Windows desktop gets broken [duplicate]

I mount C:/, and I create a link from my Ubuntu desktop to Windows desktop. However, when I restart the computer, mount C again, and double click on the link, I get the error message This link cannot ...
jeff's user avatar
  • 903
4 votes
4 answers
536 views

How can I find the difference between a folder and a folder link in Ubuntu?

Earlier, I had created some links to another folder using the following command. sudo ln -s path_name link_name These links are looking similar to the folders. I am not able to differentiate ...
mateen's user avatar
  • 657
8 votes
3 answers
32k views

Use php command instead of full path with xampp installation?

I have Xubuntu installation and XAMPP installed on my PC, and everything works great. However, lately I am experimenting a little bit with Laravel framework and a lot of tutorials and people just use ...
lonerunner's user avatar
66 votes
5 answers
46k views

What is the difference between ln -s and mount --bind?

I am trying to understand difference between using ln -s and mount --bind. In basic scenario I can use both to access one directory from somewhere else. In what scenarios those two will behave ...
Łukasz's user avatar
  • 882
2 votes
1 answer
1k views

Why can't I follow symlinks when I use the file system gui, but in terminal everything works fine?

I've decided to go with the dedicated home/data partition way of doing things for my first multiboot configuration, and for that reason have a bunch of symlinks linking to where I've mounted that ...
funkyrailroad's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
149 views

Behaviour of symlinks

I successfully and not successfully created a symlink: I have two directories ~/foo and ~/bar Now I have a file called baz.txt in this path ~/foo. My aim was to create a symlink in ~/bar so I ...
BoJack Horseman's user avatar
24 votes
2 answers
56k views

force cp to copy on dangling symlinks

Is there any way to force cp (Bash 4.2.5, Ubuntu 12.04) to copy onto a dangling symlink? cp a-file path/to/danling/symlink/a-file cp: not writing through dangling symlink `path/to/danling/symlink/a-...
Marcus Junius Brutus's user avatar

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