FreeBSD Manual Pages
symlink(2) System Calls symlink(2) NAME symlink - make a symbolic link to a file SYNOPSIS #include <unistd.h> int symlink(const char *name1, const char *name2); DESCRIPTION The symlink() function creates a symbolic link name2 to the file name1. Either name may be an arbitrary pathname, the files need not be on the same file system, and name1 may be nonexistent. The file to which the symbolic link points is used when an open(2) op- eration is performed on the link. A stat() operation performed on a symbolic link returns the linked-to file, while an lstat() operation returns information about the link itself. See stat(2). Unexpected re- sults may occur when a symbolic link is made to a directory. To avoid confusion in applications, the readlink(2) call can be used to read the contents of a symbolic link. RETURN VALUES Upon successful completion, 0 is returned. Otherwise, -1 is returned, errno is set to indicate the error, and the symbolic link is not made. ERRORS The symlink() function will fail if: EACCES Search permission is denied for a component of the path prefix of name2. 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 ex- hausted; the new symbolic link cannot be created be- cause the user's quota of disk blocks on that file sys- tem 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 name2 already exists. EFAULT The name1 or name2 argument points to an illegal ad- dress. EIO An I/O error occurs while reading from or writing to the file system. ELOOP Too many symbolic links are encountered in translating name2. ENAMETOOLONG The length of the name2 argument exceeds PATH_MAX, or the length of a name2 component exceeds NAME_MAX while _POSIX_NO_TRUNC is in effect. ENOENT A component of the path prefix of name2 does not exist. 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 direc- tory; 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 sys- tem on which the file is being created. ENOSYS The file system does not support symbolic links ENOTDIR A component of the path prefix of name2 is not a direc- tory. EROFS The file name2 would reside on a read-only file system. ATTRIBUTES See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes: +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ | ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE | +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ |Interface Stability |Standard | +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ SEE ALSO cp(1), link(2), open(2), readlink(2), stat(2), unlink(2), attributes(5) SunOS 5.10 14 Apr 1995 symlink(2)
NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | RETURN VALUES | ERRORS | ATTRIBUTES | SEE ALSO
Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
<https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=symlink&sektion=2&manpath=SunOS+5.10>