MakeLink

MakeLink is a utility library that provides functionality for creating file system links. Currently only Directory Junctions are supported, and can only be created on NTSF file systems on Windows. Support for symbolic links and hard links has not been added yet.

Main contents

• Quick Start
• How It Works
• Changelog

Quick Start

MakeLink can be used in various ways, but the easiest are the following:

• Add a PackageReference to the MakeLink nuget package (recommended).
• Add a ProjectReference in your own project for src\MakeLink\MakeLink.csproj by cloning the repository, or by adding it as a submodule in your own repository.

Installation

NOTE: Global nuget package is not yet available. To add the package reference, the nuget has to be created manually and added to a custom nuget feed.

dotnet add package MakeLink

Usage

To manage Junction Directories, the MakeLink.JunctionLink class can be used. It allows you to create, delete, and inspect Junction Directories.

Creating a Junction Directory can be done via MakeLink.JunctionLink.Create. This will create a Junction link from link to target, allowing two locations to share the same files.

string link = "C:\Foo";
string target = "C:\Bar";

MakeLink.JunctionLink.Create(link, target);

Deleting a Junction Directory is achieved by using MakeLink.JunctionLink.Delete. This will only delete the Junction Directory. The original target directory will not be deleted.

string link = "C:\Foo";

MakeLink.JunctionLink.Delete(link);

Existing Junction Directories can also be inspected with MakeLink.JunctionLink.Exists and MakeLink.JunctionLink.GetTarget.

string link = "C:\Foo";
string target = "C:\Bar";

MakeLink.JunctionLink.Create(link, target);

bool exists = MakeLink.JunctionLink.Exists(link);
string? junctionTarget = MakeLink.JunctionLink.GetTarget(link);

Console.WriteLine($"Exists: {exists}");
Console.WriteLine($"Target: {junctionTarget}");

// Output
// Exists: True
// Target: C:\Bar

How It Works

To access and manage Junction Directories, a ReparsePoint is opened by invoking native Windows functions (CreateFileW). This ReparsePoint is then modified using a ReparseDataBuffer which contains the data describing how the ReparsePoint should be modified (eg. create, or delete).

Native methods are invoked via the PInvoke class that's generated by CsWin32 source generator.

Issues & Contributions

If you find a bug or have a feature request, please report them at this repository's issues section. Contributions via pull requests to add features or fix issues are welcome.

Code of Conduct

This project has adopted the code of conduct defined by the Contributor Covenant to clarify expected behavior in our community.

For more information, see the .NET Foundation Code of Conduct.

Credits

This project is inspired by the article from CodeProject user jeff.brown in his post Manipulating NTFS Junction Points in .NET.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT license. See the LICENSE file for more info.