Symlink ~.zshrc

Question

If my .zshrc file is ~/.dotfiles/zsh/.zshrc, how can I create a symlink so that the file appears as ~/.zshrc?

Karena

Answer 1

The cd step in Alexej's answer isn't needed as you can call ln -s target destination explicitly.

ln -s ~/.dotfiles/zsh/.zshrc ~/.zshrc

Borszcz

Answer 2

run:

cd ~/ ; ln -s ~/.dotfiles/zsh/.zshrc

Plasmolysis

I get a ~/.zshrc: No such file or directory error. Why is this? – Karena

I dunno, but you could try going into your home directory--that is, cd ~--and try running this from there ln -s ~/.dotfiles/zsh/.zshrc – Plasmolysis

I think, I know now. Mac OSX's ln doesn't have the -T option, my bad. I'll edit my answer. – Plasmolysis

Answer 3

for me, when using relative path for symlink, it can show error: ~/.zshrc: No such file or directory error as @astephen2. You should change to absolute path then it working fine

Scalene

Answer 4

On MacOS, you can't use ~ in a symlink where the directory is quoted. You need to use full paths. I'd recommend running ln -s "$HOME/.dotfiles/zsh/.zshrc" "$HOME/.zshrc" Alternatively, you can forget the quotes, and use ~ in place of $HOME, however if there are any spaces (or variables with spaces) you'll probably run into problems.

Phifer

You can still use ~ in the arguments to ln -s, though; the shell expands them before ln is executed. – Arundel

You're right, I had originally forgotten to mention that that only happens when using quotes, because the shell won't replace the ~ – Phifer

You can quote any portion of the path, if necessary, while leaving ~ unquoted: ~/"$SOMEDIR"/.zshrc expands correctly. – Arundel

Oh... that completely escaped my mind. – Phifer

Answer 5

You don't actually need a symlink. Add the following to ~/.zshenv:

ZDOTDIR=~/.dotfiles/zsh

zsh sources ~/.zshenv before any other files, and will use the value of $ZDOTDIR as the location for local configuration files in lieu of your home directory.

Arundel