PowerScale: OneFS: How to create a directory symbolic link in Windows that targets an Isilon cluster

Summary: A process to create a symbolic links from a Windows client to a PowerScale cluster.

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Symptoms

Introduction

Symbolic links, or symlinks, are shortcuts that target individual files or directories. This article explains how to create a file or directory symbolic link in Windows that targets a file or directory on an Isilon cluster.


 

Cause

None.

Resolution

Procedure

Follow these steps to create a symbolic link in Windows that targets a file or directory on an Isilon cluster.

Create a symbolic file link that targets a file on an Isilon cluster.

  1. In the Windows client, click Start > All Programs > Accessories.
  2. Right-click Command Prompt, then select Run as administrator. If the User Access Control dialog box appears, click Yes.
  3. In the Command Prompt window, run the following command, where <symbolic file> is the name of the file symbolic link that you want to create and <isilon target file> is the complete path to the target file on the Isilon cluster:
      
    mklink "<symbolic file>" <isilon target file>


    For example
      
    mklink "C:\test.txt" \\192.168.1.256\ifs\data\testfile.txt

Create a symbolic directory link that targets a directory on an Isilon cluster:

  1. In the Windows client, click Start > All Programs > Accessories.
  2. Right-click Command Prompt, then select Run as administrator. If the User Access Control dialog box appears, click Yes.
  3. In the Command Prompt window, run the following command, where <symbolic directory> is the name of the directory symbolic link that you want to create and <isilon target directory> is the complete path to the target directory on the Isilon cluster:
      
    mklink /D "<symbolic directory>" <isilon target directory>


    For example:
      
    mklink /D "C:\Test" \\192.168.1.256\ifs\data

Additional Information

Note: Using the mklink command results in an error on the client with OneFS versions prior to 7.1.1.x, see the article linked below.

Related Articles:
334869 - How to enable Windows 7 client support for SMB2 symlinks and disable SMB2 symlink support to return to legacy behavior.



 

Affected Products

PowerScale OneFS

Products

PowerScale OneFS
Article Properties
Article Number: 000015087
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 25 Nov 2025
Version:  5
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