VB.NET

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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Dim success As Boolean = 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.

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


'  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) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(sftp.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If

Debug.WriteLine("Symbolic link created.")

sftp.Disconnect()