Dart

Create a Symbolic Link on an SFTP Server

Demonstrates the Chilkat SFtp.SymLink method, which creates a symbolic link on the server. The first argument is the link target and the second is the new symbolic-link path.

Background: A symbolic link stores a path that points at another location, so it can span directories or filesystems and can even point at something that does not exist. A common use is a stable name like latest.log that is repointed at each day's file. Argument order is a frequent source of confusion — the target comes first, the new link path second — and note that how the target string is interpreted (relative to what) is up to the server's implementation.

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Dart

import 'package:chilkat/chilkat.dart';

void main() {
  // Demonstrates the SFtp.SymLink method, which creates a symbolic link on the server.  The 1st
  // argument is the link target and the 2nd is the new symbolic-link path.

  final sftp = CkSFtp();

  // Connect, authenticate, and initialize the SFTP subsystem.
  final port = 22;
  try {
    sftp.connect('sftp.example.com', port);
  } on ChilkatException catch (e) {
    print(e.lastErrorText);
    return;
  }

  // Normally you would not hard-code the password in source.  You should instead obtain it
  // from an interactive prompt, environment variable, or a secrets vault.
  final password = 'mySshPassword';

  try {
    sftp.authenticatePw('mySshLogin', password);
  } on ChilkatException catch (e) {
    print(e.lastErrorText);
    return;
  }

  try {
    sftp.initializeSftp();
  } on ChilkatException catch (e) {
    print(e.lastErrorText);
    return;
  }

  // Create a symbolic link "subdir/latest.log" that points at "subdir/2026-07-23.log".  The
  // server's SFTP implementation determines how the target path is interpreted.
  try {
    sftp.symLink('subdir/2026-07-23.log', 'subdir/latest.log');
  } on ChilkatException catch (e) {
    print(e.lastErrorText);
    return;
  }

  print('Symbolic link created.');

  sftp.disconnect();
}