Manual Pages for UNIX Operating System command usage for man symlink

System Calls                                           symlink(2)



NAME
     symlink, symlinkat - make a symbolic link to a file

SYNOPSIS
     #include 

     int symlink(const char *path1, const char *path2);


     int symlinkat(const char *path1,int fd,  const char *path2);


DESCRIPTION
     The symlink() function creates a symbolic link path2 to  the
     file  path1.  Either  name may be an arbitrary pathname, the
     files need not be on the same file system, and path1 may  be
     nonexistent.


     The file to which the symbolic link points is used  when  an
     open(2)  operation is performed on the link. A stat() opera-
     tion performed on a  symbolic  link  returns  the  linked-to
     file,  while  an lstat() operation returns information about
     the link itself.  See stat(2). Unexpected results may  occur
     when a symbolic link is made to a directory. To avoid confu-
     sion in applications, the readlink(2) call can  be  used  to
     read the contents of a symbolic link.


     The symlinkat() function  is  equivalent  to  the  symlink()
     function except in the case where path2 specifies a relative
     path. In this case the symbolic link is created relative  to
     the directory associated with the file descriptor fd instead
     of the current working directory. If the file descriptor was
     opened  without O_SEARCH, the function checks whether direc-
     tory searches are permitted using the current permissions of
     the  directory  underlying  the file descriptor. If the file
     descriptor was opened with O_SEARCH, the function  does  not
     perform the check.


     If symlinkat() is passed the special value AT_FDCWD  in  the
     fd  parameter, the current working directory is used and the
     behavior is identical to a call to symlink().

RETURN VALUES
     Upon successful completion, 0 is returned.  Otherwise, -1 is
     returned,  errno  is set to indicate the error, and the sym-
     bolic link is not made.

ERRORS




SunOS 5.11           Last change: 6 Jul 2010                    1






System Calls                                           symlink(2)



     The symlink() and symlinkat() functions will fail if:

     EACCES          Write permission is denied in the  directory
                     where the symbolic link is being created, or
                     search permission is denied for a  component
                     of the path prefix of path2.


     EDQUOT          The directory where the entry  for  the  new
                     symbolic  link  is  being  placed  cannot be
                     extended because the user's  quota  of  disk
                     blocks   on   that   file  system  has  been
                     exhausted; the new symbolic link  cannot  be
                     created  because  the  user's  quota of disk
                     blocks  on  that  file   system   has   been
                     exhausted;  or the user's quota of inodes on
                     the file system  where  the  file  is  being
                     created has been exhausted.


     EEXIST          The  file  referred  to  by  path2   already
                     exists.


     EFAULT          The path1 or path2  argument  points  to  an
                     illegal address.


     EILSEQ          The path argument includes non-UTF8  charac-
                     ters  and  the file system accepts only file
                     names where all characters are part  of  the
                     UTF-8 character codeset.


     EIO             An I/O error occurs while  reading  from  or
                     writing to the file system.


     ELOOP           Too many symbolic links are  encountered  in
                     translating path2.


     ENAMETOOLONG    The length of  the  path2  argument  exceeds
                     PATH_MAX, or the length of a path2 component
                     exceeds NAME_MAX while _POSIX_NO_TRUNC is in
                     effect.


     ENOENT          A component of the path prefix of path2 does
                     not exist.





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System Calls                                           symlink(2)



     ENOSPC          The directory in which the entry for the new
                     symbolic  link  is  being  placed  cannot be
                     extended because no space  is  left  on  the
                     file  system  containing  the directory; the
                     new symbolic link cannot be created  because
                     no  space  is  left on the file system which
                     will contain the link; or there are no  free
                     inodes  on the file system on which the file
                     is being created.


     ENOSYS          The file system does  not  support  symbolic
                     links.


     ENOTDIR         A component of the path prefix of  path2  is
                     not a directory.


     EROFS           The file path2 would reside on  a  read-only
                     file system.



     The symlinkat() function will fail if:

     EACCES    fd was not opened with O_SEARCH  and  the  permis-
               sions of the directory underlying fd do not permit
               directory searches.


     EBADF     The path2 argument does not  specify  an  absolute
               path and the fd argument is neither AT_FDCWD nor a
               valid file descriptor open for reading or  search-
               ing.



     The symlink() and symlinkat() functions may fail if:

     ELOOP           More than {SYMLOOP_MAX} symbolic links  were
                     encountered  during  resolution of the path2
                     argument.


     ENAMETOOLONG    The length of  the  path2  argument  exceeds
                     {PATH_MAX}  or pathname resolution of a sym-
                     bolic link in the path2 argument produced an
                     intermediate   result  with  a  length  that
                     exceeds {PATH_MAX}.





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System Calls                                           symlink(2)



     The symlinkat() function may fail if:

     ENOTDIR    The path2 argument is not an absolute path and fd
                is neither AT_FDCWD nor a file descriptor associ-
                ated with a directory


ATTRIBUTES
     See attributes(5) for descriptions of the  following  attri-
     butes:



     ____________________________________________________________
    |       ATTRIBUTE TYPE        |       ATTRIBUTE VALUE       |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | Interface Stability         | Committed                   |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | Standard                    | See standards(5).           |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|


SEE ALSO
     cp(1), link(2), open(2),  readlink(2),  stat(2),  unlink(2),
     attributes(5)






























SunOS 5.11           Last change: 6 Jul 2010                    4