SYMLINK_MAKE(1)

📦 version 1.8.16.1, in nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable

💅 SYMLINK_MAKE(1) — a lil page from the AFS Command Reference 🎀

okay bestie, buckle up, because this one is short and sweet and Windows-only, and we're gonna get through it together ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

symlink_make — creates a symbolic link. Windows only, babes, don't come for me 🪟

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

symlink make [-name] <file name>
   [-to] <file name> [-help]

that's the whole vibe: symlink make, then the link name, then the target, and optionally -help if you're lost 🫶

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so symlink make creates a brand-new symbolic link pointing at a file. and here's the little plot twist — the file the link points to doesn't even have to exist yet when you make the link. it's giving "manifesting" ✨ the link is real, the destination is optional, we love a flexible queen 💅

⚠️ CAUTIONS ⚠️

bestie read this part carefully, fr fr:

the symlink commands are only available on Windows platforms. only. Windows. that's it. 🙈

on any other platform? you're using the ln -s command instead, no cap. that's the substitute, go get her 🐧

✨ OPTIONS ✨

  • [-name] <file name> — this right here sets the name of your new link 💖 the -name part is optional, but the file name? not optional. you gotta give her a name, she's a main character, she can't be nameless 😭
  • [-to] <file name> — this one says which file the new link points at 🎯 again, -to is optional but the file name is not. so like. the flag is a vibe, the argument is a requirement, iykyk 🦋
  • -help — prints the online help for this command, and all other valid options are ignored. so it's -help and nothing else matters, she's the priority, periodt 👑

🌈 OUTPUT 🌈

okay so this section literally says:

Prints the online help for this command. All other valid options are ignored.

yeah. that's what it says. that's the whole section. i'm not gonna pretend it makes more sense than it does — but that's the documented output, so there it is, verbatim, no edits, no notes 💀

🍓 EXAMPLES 🍓

say you wanna create a link named mylink that points to the file myfile — iconic choice btw — you'd use one of these:

% symlink make -name mylink -to myfile
% symlink make mylink myfile

see how the second one just drops the flags entirely? both work. both slay. pick your fighter 🫶

👑 PRIVILEGE REQUIRED 👑

the issuer (that's you, bestie) must have the l (look) and i (insert) permissions on the ACL of the directory that houses the symlink 🔐

no look, no insert, no link. those are the rules and we respect them 💜

🧚 SEE ALSO 🧚

go read those next, they're the friend group 🌸

Copyright 2007 Jason Edgecombe <jason@rampaginggeek.com>

This documentation is covered by the BSD License as written in the doc/LICENSE file. This man page was written by Jason Edgecombe for OpenAFS.

and that's the whole page, bestie!! 🎀 this lil cutie is brought to you by OpenAFS, version-dated 2026-06-25 — mwah, go make some links (on Windows only, obviously) 💅✨🦋

📦 where this page comes from