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symlink.2 (2010 09)

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symlink(2) symlink(2)
NAME
symlink - make symbolic link to a file
SYNOPSIS
#include <unistd.h>
int symlink(const char *path1, const char *path2);
DESCRIPTION
The symlink() function creates a symbolic link. Its name is the pathname pointed to by path2 , which
must be a pathname that does not name an existing file or symbolic link. The contents of the symbolic
link are the string pointed to by path1 .
RETURN VALUE
Upon successful completion,
symlink() returns 0. Otherwise, it returns −1 and sets
errno to indicate
the error.
ERRORS
If
symlink() fails, errno is set to one of the following values:
[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 .
[EEXIST] The path2 argument names an existing file or symbolic link.
[EFAULT] path1 or path2 points outside the process’s allocated address space. The
reliable detection of this error is implementation-dependent.
[EIO] An I/O error occurred while reading from path1, making the directory
entry for path2 , allocating the inode for path2 , or writing out the link
contents of path2 .
[ELOOP] Too many symbolic links were encountered in resolving path2 .
[ENAMETOOLONG] The length of the path2 argument exceeds {
PATH_MAX}, or pathname
resolution of a symbolic link produced an intermediate result that
exceeds {
PATH_MAX}, or a pathname component is longer than
{NAME_MAX}.
[ENOENT] A component of path2 does not name an existing file or path2 is an
empty string.
[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 con-
taining the directory, or the new symbolic link cannot be created because
no space is left on the file system which will contain the link, or the file
system is out of file-allocation resources.
[ENOTDIR] A component of the path prefix of path2 is not a directory.
[EROFS] The new symbolic link would reside on a read-only file system.
APPLICATION USAGE
Like a hard link, a symbolic link allows a file to have multiple logical names. The presence of a hard link
guarantees the existence of a file, even after the original name has been removed. A symbolic link pro-
vides no such assurance; in fact, the file named by the path1 argument need not exist when the link is
created. A symbolic link can cross file system boundaries.
Normal permission checks are made on each component of the symbolic link pathname during its resolu-
tion.
AUTHOR
symlink() was developed by the University of California, Berkeley.
SEE ALSO
cp(1), chown(2), link(2), lstat(2), open(2), readlink(2), unlink(2), symlink(4), <unistd.h>.
HP-UX 11i Version 3: September 2010 − 1 − Hewlett-Packard Company 1

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