Add symlink handling

[Alberto Anta]

I have 2 symbolic links under a folder and it does not sync them

[Paul Sladen (sladen)]

Hello Alberto; are you concerned about?

  (a) the _symlinks themselves_ not being replicated
  (b) the _contents_ of folders pointed by via symlinks not being recursively copied (spidered)
  (c) something else

[[e-mail] (akoumjian)]

It seems to me that the behavior would best be left as an option. Right now it's silly that I have to copy any files I want shared on Ubuntu One into the folder, when I could just symlink the folder(s) I want to use. That way if I update files, I don't have to go and update the copies as well.

I suppose there may be the occasional desire to copy the symlinks themselves and not resolve them, for which some kind of option might be made available?

[Joshua Hoover (joshuahoover)]

We have this on our roadmap to support in the future. It's a fairly popular request.

[Jay Cassano (cassano-jay)]

To answer Paul's original question I'd say that the bigger issue here is option b: "the _contents_ of folders pointed by via symlinks not being recursively copied (spidered)." It seems to me that a lot of people (myself included) would like to, for example, be able to sync and backup their ~/Documents folder via UbuntuOne without manually copying & pasting. Symlinking is the way this is done by Dropbox users, so it would make sense for UbuntuOne to support this.

I recognize that symlinking isn't necessarily the most intuitive or accessible way for this to be done for the average end user. So what would ultimately be a nice feature to implement would be an option on the right click menu in Nautilus to "sync folder with UbuntuOne". That option would effectively function as a symlink on the backend, but to the end user all they need to do is choose what they're syncing via a couple of mouse clicks. Any synced directories could use the "cloud" emblem to visually represent the fact that they're synced.

Hope that made sense.

[sebastian-s (sebastian-s)]

I agree with Paul Sladen's Point b and akoumjian,

creating a sym link from folders I want to share/sync with Ubuntu One was the first thing I did - without knowing how Dropbox does it.

For the average user there could be an option to 'share this folder with Ubuntu One' which could create the symlink.

[Matt Griffin (mattgriffin)]

Since we don't currently support symlinks, I changed this bug description to add the feature. Many others have requested. We're paying attention :) Thanks for the comments.

[Neil Perry (nperry)]

I've found a work around to get symlinks to work.

Example,

Hard copy of irssi config in ~/Ubuntu One

Sym link hard copy into correct dir.

ln -s ~/Ubuntu\ One/irssiconfig ~/.irssi/config

So to edit a config file, just open in Ubuntu One, it'll then sync to the cloud then sync down to another computer and into the set sym linked dir.

[David Tangye (davidtangye)]

Symlinks are a fundamental and powerful facility within unix/linux filesystems from >40 years ago. All Canonical/Ubuntu developers should keep them in mind when developing all facilities within the Ubuntu distro.

[TimH (biotim)]

Seems like for now the solution is just to put your actual folder in the Ubuntu One directory, and then make a symlink in the "normal" location that points to the Ubuntu One directory. The nuisance then is that you have to make a new symlink on every computer you use.

[Krister Swenson (thekswenson)]

Not only that, if you sync your files to another computer then you have to change your normal configuration for that as well...
   this is huge for me; syncing symlinks or the like would turn Ubuntu One from a nice spot to share some files into an essential tool for my everyday use.

[Elliot Murphy (statik)]

We're adding a new feature to Ubuntu One file sharing in Lucid (10.04) which we call user defined folders, or UDF for short. This will allow you to select any folder in your home directory and sync it with Ubuntu One. You can follow along with progress here: https://blueprints.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/lucid-ubuntu-one-symlinks-and-udfs

Note that while technically it is very easy to sync the symlinks (not follow them, just sync the symlinks), it causes a backwards compatibility problem so we're not currently adding symlink support by default, but we hope that the UDF support will provide the flexibility that people need.

[Lucio Torre (lucio.torre)]

Im closing this as wontfix as we dont actually plan to support symlink in the short term and we presume that UDFs will give most of the benefit people expect from symlinks without any of the troubles.

[Andreas Bollhalder (bolle732)]

Another good usage for symlinks is, if you use computers with different languages. I have a machine in german (at work) with a folder called "Projekte" and another in english (at home) with a folder called "Projects". Make a symlink on both machines with the same name pointing to there respective folders and it would be on the way...

Or an Option "Sync this Folder as <Name> ..." and then ask on the other machines which folder to use.

[Benjamin Geer (benjamin-geer)]

If UDFs can only be in my home directory, they won't solve this problem for me. I don't keep any important documents in my home folder; I keep everything on an external hard drive.

[Molnár Gábor (csirkus)]

I have the same problem as Benajmin. Please allow adding directories outside of home folder.

[Dustin Kirkland  (kirkland)]

Eliot/Lucio-

I see that you've marked this won't-fix, and I've read your reasons why.

Is there any chance of reconsidering? Any chance of supporting symlinks, perhaps as an option for power users, in the future?

This is my blocker to using Ubuntu One. I use symlinks habitually, and I need them backed up (as symlinks) along with my data. Otherwise, accessing/restoring my data is incomplete.

Please reconsider...

[John Vivirito (gnomefreak)]

From Eliot's comment it will break if it is added the way you would like.

[PhilippeSeidel (pagin)]

I have the same problem as Benjamin: I don't keep important file in my home dir, but on a different hard drive (VFAT to be shared with stupid other systems). I symlink these external folders in my home directory to make everything accessible:
e.g.: /media/Bibilothek/doggumende is referenced by /home/philippe/Dokumente

I want to share this documents folder on U1. Sharing the doggumende folder results in U1 telling me it cannot link outside of the homedir. Sharing the Dokumente symlink gives an error that UDFs cannot be symlinks. What can I do?

[Nicholas Lello (nicholas-lello)]

This is a real show-stopper for me and many others..... a lot of folks keep their important stuff outside of the home directory and on a separate drive to avoid blowing their files away if the o/s drive becomes corrupted..... U1 should be able to sync files from any directory (ie: not just inside the user's home directory) and follow symlinks.

The option to now purchase additional U1 storage implies that the service can be used as an offline backup --- however this single limitation prevents it's use.

Looks like I'm going to have to go back to dropbox :-(

[chrisfaron (chrisfaron)]

I too have the same problem as Philippe & Nicholas, I save all my data on an external hard drive in case my laptop is stolen, access with other os's. Has anybody used Neil Perry's solution?

[fuffzig (marchinrichs)]

Other view of this problem: I decided to backup my MythTv contents, which are located on an extra file system under /var/lib/mythtv. So I bought Ubuntu One storage to backup my music first and just made a symlink in UbuntuOne folder to /var/lib/mythtv/music. I was really surprised, that it did not work.
Moving/copying all data to $HOME is no option for me.

[John Robson (johnrobson)]

Another vote for the proposed symbolic link functionality. Please....

[lokster (lokiisyourmaster)]

I think that such functionality should be made optional.
What I mean:
 - disabled by default (no symlink handling at all)
 - when turned on you can choose between two options:
    * symlinks synchronized as symlinks, and show warning that this option is UNIX only
    * sync symlink contents ("follow symlinks")

For example, Dropbox follows symlinks, and I think this is better than nothing.
BUT, I also think that if implemented, this REALLY need to be made OPTIONAL - wether to follow them or sync the symlinks themselves.
Yes, this will brake windows compatibility if turned ON, but if it's off by default, novice users will not know that such option exists, and experienced users (which probably use only Linux) will know how to turn it on.
And everybody will be pleased.
I know there are some caveats in such implementation, but it's perfectly possible to come up with a working solution.

[Wagner Santos (wagner-gsantos)]

I have same problem with symlink. I don't want to download my file always I format my PC, I would like to use my U1 how a backup repository not a principal driver.

[MasterCATZ (mastercatz)]

I need to find a quick way to backup all my symbolic link files

not the files they link too but just the symbolic file its self

I have 3 gig worth of symbolic link files all specially named and linked to data files on servers all over the place