From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from smtp-out-so.shaw.ca (smtp-out-so.shaw.ca [64.59.136.137]) by sourceware.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id C33EA3857004 for ; Sun, 3 Jan 2021 05:00:24 +0000 (GMT) DMARC-Filter: OpenDMARC Filter v1.3.2 sourceware.org C33EA3857004 Authentication-Results: sourceware.org; dmarc=none (p=none dis=none) header.from=SystematicSw.ab.ca Authentication-Results: sourceware.org; spf=none smtp.mailfrom=brian.inglis@systematicsw.ab.ca Received: from [192.168.1.104] ([24.64.172.44]) by shaw.ca with ESMTP id vvV8k8zrkbYg3vvV9kXwcP; Sat, 02 Jan 2021 22:00:23 -0700 X-Authority-Analysis: v=2.4 cv=Q4RsX66a c=1 sm=1 tr=0 ts=5ff14f67 a=kiZT5GMN3KAWqtYcXc+/4Q==:117 a=kiZT5GMN3KAWqtYcXc+/4Q==:17 a=IkcTkHD0fZMA:10 a=uYT-Tk0qkVT609LjNaIA:9 a=QEXdDO2ut3YA:10 Reply-To: cygwin@cygwin.com Subject: Re: Native symbolic link behavior is broken and makes backups using Cygwin command line tools impossible To: cygwin@cygwin.com References: From: Brian Inglis Organization: Systematic Software Message-ID: <1d853aa0-4cbe-b92c-8d9f-53fc72371a7b@SystematicSw.ab.ca> Date: Sat, 2 Jan 2021 22:00:21 -0700 User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:78.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/78.6.0 MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Language: en-CA Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-CMAE-Envelope: MS4xfDEmLrvA1eoqJOSGwyVoDCEhAAyJy/KmXRcmcXk/vLaGDp1QEbLsVCm0N9wFWdUYrMGKNgEXq/YFCze6Y5yqYClpTD4YnjhwD2nF208/NIRmf4U6SVFo 19eRUJcbojV1BQ76KCdfTsWBDV9BsoJ3YcSrkoxDsR9+bvC85s70Wo+gQAswvYd40r2vNkn3gMwgCoaDsKN8TB1ZFvbiC/y5WPc= X-Spam-Status: No, score=-6.1 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00, KAM_DMARC_STATUS, KAM_LAZY_DOMAIN_SECURITY, NICE_REPLY_A, RCVD_IN_DNSWL_LOW, RCVD_IN_MSPIKE_H3, RCVD_IN_MSPIKE_WL, SPF_HELO_NONE, SPF_NONE, TXREP autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.2 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.2 (2018-09-13) on server2.sourceware.org X-BeenThere: cygwin@cygwin.com X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.29 Precedence: list List-Id: General Cygwin discussions and problem reports List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 03 Jan 2021 05:00:28 -0000 On 2021-01-02 21:16, Matt D. via Cygwin wrote: > I have a folder with a lot of native Windows symbolic links. I want to > copy this folder. > > I cannot rsync or cp this folder due to Cygwin being unable to create > symbolic links without also wanting to verify the link target. This > can be demonstrated: > > $ ln -s a b > ln: failed to create symbolic link 'b': No such file or directory > > If I create a test directory folder_a/ and folder_b/. Inside I will > "touch a" and "ln -s a b". > > I cannot rsync this folder: > > $ rsync -a folder_a/ folder_b/ > rsync: symlink "folder_a/b" -> "a" failed: No such file or directory (2) > rsync error: some files/attrs were not transferred (see previous > errors) (code 23) at main.c(1306) [sender=3.2.0dev] > > Using "cp -a folder_a/* folder_b/" in this test case DOES work but > this is simply because files were returned in the correct order and > the link could be created. > > This can be demonstrated where this works fine: > > $ cp -a folder_a/a folder_a/b folder_b/ > > But this does not: > > $ cp -a folder_a/b folder_a/b folder_b/ > cp: cannot create symbolic link 'folder_b/b': No such file or directory > cp: warning: source file 'folder_a/b' specified more than once > > The order in which files are returned while listing them in a > directory and necessitating their pre-existence while performing a > deep copy is impossible. It's also very normal for symbolic links to > exist which may or may not point to a valid target depending on the > observing path. > > Windows does NOT require a link to be valid before creation. This can > be demonstrated with mklink: > > C:\mklink b a > symbolic link created for b <<===>> a Depending on exactly what you have and what you want to do try: $ cp -av $ cp -dv $ cp -Pv or > robocopy /sl -- Take care. Thanks, Brian Inglis, Calgary, Alberta, Canada This email may be disturbing to some readers as it contains too much technical detail. Reader discretion is advised. [Data in binary units and prefixes, physical quantities in SI.]