I am able to create a symbolic link using mklink.exe (MKLINK /D MYDIR c:\TEMP\MYDIR)

I want to do the same thing in powershell.

I tried this

 

    $s = new-pssession -computername mymachine
    enter-pssession $s   
    cmd /c mklink /d e:\DPM_SQL_TEMP C:\Temp\DPM_SQL_TEMP
    exit-pssession
    remove-pssession $s

 

Got the error

 

cmd.exe : 'mklink' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
At C:\Users\user\Documents\MountPoint.ps1:13 char:5
+     cmd <<<<  /c c:\windows\system32\mklink /d e:\DPM_SQL_TEMP C:\Temp\DPM_SQL_TEMP
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: ('c:\windows\sys...ternal command,:String) [], RemoteException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NativeCommandError
 
operable program or batch file.

Hi,

Try this script:

$target = "c:\test"
$path = "c:\test2.lnk"

$wshshell = New-Object -ComObject WScript.Shell
$link = $wshshell.CreateShortcut($path)
$link.TargetPath = $target
$link.Save()

I don't think shortcut and a link to a directory are the same thing.... feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/894430/powershell-hard-and-soft-links

PowerShell Community Extensions

 

There are several cmdlets for reparse points of various types: New-HardLink, New-SymLink, New-Junction, Remove-ReparsePoint and others.

• Proposed as answer by Dale QiaoModerator Thursday, March 17, 2011 5:49 AM

I tried this

 

    $s = new-pssession -computername mymachine
    enter-pssession $s   
    cmd /c mklink /d e:\DPM_SQL_TEMP C:\Temp\DPM_SQL_TEMP
    exit-pssession
    remove-pssession $s

 

use this:
& cmd /c "mklink `/j `"e:`\DPM_SQL_TEMP`" `"E:`\temp`\DPM_SQL_TEMP`\`""

Tried this

 

& cmd /c "mklink" /d "e:\DPM_SQL_TEMP" "C:\Temp\DPM_SQL_TEMP"

 

Got the error

cmd.exe : The system cannot find the path specified.
At C:\Users\user\Documents\MountPoint.ps1:13 char:6
+     & <<<<  cmd /c "mklink" /d "e:\DPM_SQL_TEMP" "C:\Temp\DPM_SQL_TEMP"
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (The system cann...path specified.:String) [], RemoteException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NativeCommandError

yeah you somehow remove the escape tics -> `

 

you have one " at the beginning and one " at the end. inbetween you have to escape \ and " with an `
so it looks like: `\ and `"

Then just use Invoke-Expression:

Invoke-Expression -Command "cmd /c mklink /d e:\DPM_SQL_TEMP C:\Temp\DPM_SQL_TEMP"

yeah you somehow remove the escape tics -> `

 

you have one " at the beginning and one " at the end. inbetween you have to escape \ and " with an `
so it looks like: `\ and `"

& cmd /c "mklink `/j `"e:`\DPM_SQL_TEMP`" `"E:`\temp`\DPM_SQL_TEMP`\`""

http://www.techotopia.com/index.php/Windows_PowerShell_1.0_String_Quoting_and_Escape_Sequences

It doesn't work!

 

    $s = new-pssession -computername mymachine
    enter-pssession $s
    & cmd /c "mklink `/j `"e:`\DPM_SQL_TEMP`" `"E:`\temp`\DPM_SQL_TEMP`\`""
    exit-pssession
    remove-pssession $s

 

Error

cmd.exe : Local volumes are required to complete the operation.
At C:\Users\srabhi_adm\Documents\MountPoint.ps1:13 char:6
+     & <<<<  cmd /c "mklink `/j `"e:`\DPM_SQL_TEMP`" `"E:`\temp`\DPM_SQL_TEMP`\`""
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (Local volumes a... the operation.:String) [], RemoteException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NativeCommandError

 

If I remote login into mymachine and then do a mklink I can successfully create the link in E drive which is a local disk/volume.

I am able to create a symbolic link using mklink.exe (MKLINK /D MYDIR c:\TEMP\MYDIR)

I want to do the same thing in powershell.

$signature = @"
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

namespace System
{
 public class MkLink
 {
  [DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
  public static extern bool CreateSymbolicLink(string lpSymlinkFileName, string lpTargetFileName, int dwFlags);
 }
}
"@
Add-Type -TypeDefinition $Signature
[system.MkLink]::CreateSymbolicLink("mydir","C:\tempMydir",1)

 

Ps.Must have administrator privileges.

• Proposed as answer by StevenNS 11 hours 47 minutes ago

I am able to create a symbolic link using mklink.exe (MKLINK /D MYDIR c:\TEMP\MYDIR)

I want to do the same thing in powershell.

$signature = @"
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

namespace System
{
 public class MkLink
 {
  [DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
  public static extern bool CreateSymbolicLink(string lpSymlinkFileName, string lpTargetFileName, int dwFlags);
 }
}
"@
Add-Type -TypeDefinition $Signature
[system.MkLink]::CreateSymbolicLink("mydir","C:\tempMydir",1)

 

Ps.Must have administrator privileges.

• Proposed as answer by StevenNS Wednesday, July 01, 2015 7:21 PM

Try this...

$s = new-pssession -computername mymachine
invoke-command -session $s -scriptblock {cd c:\test; start-process 'c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe' -argumentlist '/C mklink /D MYTEST c:\TEMP\MYTEST'}

$s | remove-pssession

Make sure you change directory to the folder where you want the link to appear before executing.

Only works on Vista & above, mklink is not available in previous versions. 

BTW mklink.exe does not exist.. it's an internal command in cmd.exe, like copy, set, sta

Hi,

 

You can create a new symbolic link or junction in Windows Vista or Windows Server® 2008 with New-Symlink and New-Junction, respectively. To use this cmdlets, please install the PowerShell Community Extensions firstly.

 

Meanwhile, you could try the following scripts:

 

MKLINK – Make Symbolic File and Directory links. Useful for making symbolic links from powershell.

http://poshcode.org/2353

 

Best Regards

Dale

I finally got this to work. I could not install Powershell community extensions even after hours of debugging. for the second mklink code, I build the DLL file but then I didn't know how to use it from Powershell.

 

This is the code which finally worked for me.

 

cls
$test1 = test-path -path '\\mymachine\e$\DPM_SQL_PROTECT'

if ($test1 -eq $false) {
	$s = new-pssession -computername mymachine  <br/>
    enter-pssession $s
	Invoke-Command -Session $s -ScriptBlock {set-location "e:\"}
	Invoke-Command -Session $s -ScriptBlock {& cmd /c "mklink /d DPM_SQL_PROTECT c:\temp\DPM_SQL_PROTECT\"}
  exit-pssession
  remove-pssession $s
}

• Marked as answer by MSDN Student Thursday, March 17, 2011 12:29 PM

Great fix. Works perfect.