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Charlweed
Asked: 2019-09-02 07:57:48 +0800 CST

How can Iinux powershell test if a file is a symbolic link?

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On Linux, I want to replace a bash script with powershell. The script needs to test a file to determine if it is a symbolic link. In bash, one can use the -L operator:

if [[ -L "/tmp/mysteryfile" ]] ; then ; echo "It is a link" ; fi

How can I do the same in powershell on Linux?

linux

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    On my Ubuntu 19.04 this:

    PS> gci /bin/bz*|select Mode,LastWriteTime,Length,Name,Attributes,LinkType|ft -auto

    yields

    Mode   LastWriteTime     Length Name           Attributes LinkType
----   -------------     ------ ----           ---------- --------
--r--l 04.07.19 14:50:14  38984 bzcat            ReadOnly HardLink
-----l 04.07.19 14:50:14      6 bzcmp        ReparsePoint SymbolicLink
--r--- 04.07.19 14:50:14   2227 bzdiff           ReadOnly 
-----l 04.07.19 14:50:14      6 bzegrep      ReparsePoint SymbolicLink
--r--- 13.08.18 13:29:27   4877 bzexe            ReadOnly 
-----l 04.07.19 14:50:14      6 bzfgrep      ReparsePoint SymbolicLink
--r--- 04.07.19 14:50:14   3641 bzgrep           ReadOnly 
--r--l 04.07.19 14:50:14  38984 bzip2            ReadOnly HardLink
--r--- 04.07.19 14:50:14  14328 bzip2recover     ReadOnly 
-----l 04.07.19 14:50:14      6 bzless       ReparsePoint SymbolicLink
--r--- 04.07.19 14:50:14   1297 bzmore           ReadOnly

    So the Mode l denotes a link, as does the Attribute ReparsePoint denote a SymbolicLink.

    But only the LinkType differentiates between Hard-/SymbolicLinks

    if((Get-Item "/tmp/mysteryfile").LinkType -eq 'SymbolicLink'){"It is a SymbolicLink"}

    or

    if($LT=(Get-Item "/tmp/mysteryfile").LinkType){"It is a $LT"}

    To see some stats:

    PS> gci /bin -rec -force -ea 0|Where LinkType|Group LinkType -NoElement               

Count Name
----- ----
    3 HardLink
  276 SymbolicLink
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