opensolaris man page for symlink

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) operation 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
       results 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 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 name2 already exists.

       EFAULT	       The name1 or name2 argument points to an illegal address.

       EILSEQ	       The path argument includes non-UTF8 characters 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 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 directory; the new symbolic link cannot be created because no space is left on the file sys-
		       tem 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 name2 is not a directory.

       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 5.11							    18 May 2007 							symlink(2)