Differences between revisions 2 and 7 (spanning 5 versions)
Revision 2 as of 2008-05-16 17:40:19
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Editor: GreyCat
Comment: clean up, add perl alternative
Revision 7 as of 2013-07-26 22:44:57
Size: 980
Comment: simplify `perl`, add missing `--`, `-d` won't harm here either.
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[[Anchor(faq29)]] <<Anchor(faq29)>>
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perl -e 'print readlink "/bin/sh", "\n"' perl -le 'print readlink "/bin/sh"'
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You can also use GNU [:UsingFind:find]'s `-printf %l` directive, which is especially useful if you need to resolve links in batches: You can also use GNU [[UsingFind|find]]'s `-printf %l` directive, which is especially useful if you need to resolve links in batches:
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        ll="$(LC_ALL=C ls -l "$path" 2> /dev/null)" &&
        echo "${ll/* -> }"
        ll=$(LC_ALL=C ls -ld -- "$path" 2>/dev/null) &&
        printf '%s\n' "${ll#* -> }"
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However, this can fail if a symbolic link contains " -> " in its target. However, this can fail if a symbolic link contains " -> " in its name.

----
Ca
tegoryShell

How can I display the target of a symbolic link?

The nonstandard external command readlink(1) can be used to display the target of a symbolic link:

$ readlink /bin/sh
bash

If you don't have readlink, you can use Perl:

perl -le 'print readlink "/bin/sh"'

You can also use GNU find's -printf %l directive, which is especially useful if you need to resolve links in batches:

$ find /bin/ -type l -printf '%p points to %l\n'
/bin/sh points to bash
/bin/bunzip2 points to bzip2
...

If your system lacks both readlink and Perl, you can use a function like this one:

# Bash
readlink() {
    local path=$1 ll

    if [ -L "$path" ]; then
        ll=$(LC_ALL=C ls -ld -- "$path" 2>/dev/null) &&
        printf '%s\n' "${ll#* -> }"
    else
        return 1
    fi
}

However, this can fail if a symbolic link contains " -> " in its name.


CategoryShell

BashFAQ/029 (last edited 2013-07-26 22:44:57 by StephaneChazelas)