is there a cross platform way to create a symbolic link in .NET Core

Question

I can use the following p-invoke code on Windows, but is there a cross-platform way to create a symbolic link with .NET Core? (3.0 preview if that matters)

If not, is there a way to p-invoke or similar on linux/ubuntu to do it?

public static class PinvokeSymLink
{
    [DllImport( "kernel32.dll" )]
    public static extern bool CreateSymbolicLink( string lpSymlinkFileName, string lpTargetFileName, SymbolicLink dwFlags );

    public enum SymbolicLink
    {
        File = 0,
        Directory = 1
    }
}

Commove

I also stumbled on this context, I need symlinks for external HD references. – Levinson

@Levinson I think the only way may be to just shell out 'ln -s directory simlin' – Commove

@Commove did you found the solution – Delacourt

@Delacourt I used the shell command in the comment above. – Commove

@Kenny thanks I found the dll Mono.Unix dll with the help of that I was able to achieve Mono.Unix.UnixSymbolicLinkInfo – Delacourt

@Delacourt great ... make it an answer and I'll vote and select it. – Commove

Answer 1

Since .NET 6, the File.CreateSymbolicLink is available for this purpose.

For the older .NET versions, you can consider p-invoking the symlink Linux function instead. This worked for me on both Linux and macOS.

Harpist