VB.NET

Read the Target of a Symbolic Link

Demonstrates the Chilkat SFtp.ReadLink method, which returns the target path stored in a remote symbolic link. The only argument is the link path. The example then resolves the target to an absolute path with RealPath.

Background: ReadLink returns the raw string stored in the link exactly as it was created — which may be relative, absolute, or even dangling — without resolving it. That distinction matters: to learn where a link actually leads you follow it with RealPath, which canonicalizes the path on the server. Reading the raw target is the right choice when you need to inspect or preserve the link itself rather than its destination.

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Dim success As Boolean = False

'  Demonstrates the SFtp.ReadLink method, which returns the target path stored in a remote
'  symbolic link.  The only argument is the link path.

Dim sftp As New Chilkat.SFtp

'  Connect, authenticate, and initialize the SFTP subsystem.
Dim port As Integer = 22
success = sftp.Connect("sftp.example.com",port)
If (success = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(sftp.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


'  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.
Dim password As String = "mySshPassword"

success = sftp.AuthenticatePw("mySshLogin",password)
If (success = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(sftp.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


success = sftp.InitializeSftp()
If (success = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(sftp.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


'  Read the target of a symbolic link.  The returned value is the raw target string stored in
'  the link; it is not canonicalized and can be relative or absolute.
Dim target As String = sftp.ReadLink("subdir/latest.log")
If (sftp.LastMethodSuccess = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(sftp.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If

Debug.WriteLine("The link points to: " & target)

'  To resolve it to an absolute path, pass it to RealPath.
Dim absTarget As String = sftp.RealPath(target,"")
If (sftp.LastMethodSuccess = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(sftp.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If

Debug.WriteLine("Absolute target: " & absTarget)

sftp.Disconnect()