PHP Extension

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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PHP Extension

<?php

include("chilkat.php");

$success = false;

//  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.

$sftp = new CkSFtp();

//  Connect, authenticate, and initialize the SFTP subsystem.
$port = 22;
$success = $sftp->Connect('sftp.example.com',$port);
if ($success == false) {
    print $sftp->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

//  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.
$password = 'mySshPassword';

$success = $sftp->AuthenticatePw('mySshLogin',$password);
if ($success == false) {
    print $sftp->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

$success = $sftp->InitializeSftp();
if ($success == false) {
    print $sftp->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

//  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.
$success = $sftp->SymLink('subdir/2026-07-23.log','subdir/latest.log');
if ($success == false) {
    print $sftp->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

print 'Symbolic link created.' . "\n";

$sftp->Disconnect();

?>