From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from mail-lf1-x129.google.com (mail-lf1-x129.google.com [IPv6:2a00:1450:4864:20::129]) by sourceware.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 5174F3896C14 for ; Tue, 12 Jan 2021 18:00:03 +0000 (GMT) DMARC-Filter: OpenDMARC Filter v1.3.2 sourceware.org 5174F3896C14 Received: by mail-lf1-x129.google.com with SMTP id o17so4718611lfg.4 for ; Tue, 12 Jan 2021 10:00:03 -0800 (PST) X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=1e100.net; s=20161025; h=x-gm-message-state:mime-version:references:in-reply-to:from:date :message-id:subject:cc; bh=f/1kkus40vztJwpbhFz/XmiMSbtpdr7shJIv1/ZGp6Q=; b=hkXkuvXd7YtZErkmj/PGYa9iROlHAITwIEf6FYpsNlfv+KEmR9X8eR4iUB+TOtl/m9 dbr/2ou6FuISGr52qQMdP6jjD519rJR5ih7wyDBycXl6aUb7W8QaKISJmqPou9UOvPLu 8J54h6XGEo2/NS1sjF/meaXHjv4Ra93AzhJxnXcgBH4cB1mLmLv43hQPKSSD5X0W78kX kCn+evSD9h/mvkiFBTTBkbu3D2axBSbvwXtNdqVmUX8fA+ZMShH+87S7YCQUmw6gZ3Us HhGHWIw5cUHiIVnt4tLFDnrxGzp+p0WPCacVMQbSfHG/cMCtpjWMTjnm6z8yztgmSCHF /CNw== X-Gm-Message-State: AOAM532+VQl0vWF727NdL7O/8cYg2B4Mb3SpN4nZeznhu9jxpbdSgueQ 9gARCegl/lijnWY69q8JcB5qFNDMWvWukIaFfVuOMgC4vUs= X-Google-Smtp-Source: ABdhPJzHzGUy2i8yCUefr6aJolaN5h7En2lX/ptikmAfCwh3xHuXfOBr2kvBeNc7NBFLyoQz+f9avHZwUemf2ZRoHQc= X-Received: by 2002:a19:e8e:: with SMTP id 136mr63230lfo.272.1610474401607; Tue, 12 Jan 2021 10:00:01 -0800 (PST) MIME-Version: 1.0 References: <1d853aa0-4cbe-b92c-8d9f-53fc72371a7b@SystematicSw.ab.ca> <2f9a63f8-37e3-5ea0-1541-608cf59faffa@cs.umass.edu> <89f9e340-367f-e2c0-18da-d433379c0c9b@secure-endpoints.com> In-Reply-To: <89f9e340-367f-e2c0-18da-d433379c0c9b@secure-endpoints.com> From: "Matt D." Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2021 12:59:49 -0500 Message-ID: Subject: Re: Native symbolic link behavior is broken and makes backups using Cygwin command line tools impossible Cc: cygwin@cygwin.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.7 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00, DKIM_SIGNED, DKIM_VALID, DKIM_VALID_AU, DKIM_VALID_EF, FREEMAIL_FROM, MALFORMED_FREEMAIL, MISSING_HEADERS, RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE, SPF_HELO_NONE, SPF_PASS, TXREP autolearn=no 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: Tue, 12 Jan 2021 18:00:05 -0000 Operations like cp and rsync etc. should still work. The type of symbolic link to be created can be read from the file attributes of the one being copied. On Mon, Jan 4, 2021 at 10:46 AM Jeffrey Altman via Cygwin wrote: > > On 1/4/2021 10:27 AM, Matt D. via Cygwin (cygwin@cygwin.com) wrote: > > I am using symbolic links native to Windows. My CYGWIN environment > > variable has been set to "winsymlinks:nativestrict" and my account has > > permission to make symbolic links. This is an issue specifically with > > Cygwin; I have no problems making links at the windows command line. > > Cygwin also does not have a problem making symbolic links-- if the > > target already exists. The issue is that I cannot create native > > symbolic links with Cygwin for targets that DON'T exist. > > > > The normal behavior for both Windows and Linux is to create the > > symbolic link whether the target exists or not. I don't know why > > Cygwin fails to do this only for native Windows symbolic links. It > > does not have a problem creating links to any target with the default > > Cygwin (non-Windows) symbolic links. > > Windows native symlinks encode the object type of the target and the > encoded type must match that of the target or the link will not work > when the target exists. > > A UNIX symlink does not encode any details of the target. > > Cygwin doesn't know what type of native symlink to create if the > target does not exist. > > I hope this knowledge helps. > > Jeffrey Altman > > > > > > -- > Problem reports: https://cygwin.com/problems.html > FAQ: https://cygwin.com/faq/ > Documentation: https://cygwin.com/docs.html > Unsubscribe info: https://cygwin.com/ml/#unsubscribe-simple