topic Re: partial symlink works in NFS ; failed in windows in ONTAP Discussions

partial symlink works in NFS ; failed in windows

tingweilim — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 06:38:51 GMT

Hi guys,

i got a ticket opened with Netapp regarding symlink issues and i got poor response , hence decided to bring up discussion at forum.

I am using NFS+CIFS in volume_A , with widelink enabled + symlink.translations . It was working fine until recently , i got complain from my user.

partial symlink pointer is not functioning in CIFS.

After taking investigation , here is the finding:

Scenario:

Ontap OS: NetApp Release 8.0.2 7-Mode

Model : 6280

Directory /tools contained :

/tools/real_folderA

/tools/another_real_folderB

/tools/symlink_folder -> /data/test_folder

Test One:

In /tools/real_folderA , create a symlink "netapp" pointing to ../symlink_folder

Command : ln -s ../symlink_folder netapp

Result : netapp -> ../symlink_folder

This is actually working for Linux , i can "cd" into the directory but in Windows , it cannot be recognized and appeared as unknown format icon.

Test Two:

In /tools/another_real_folderB , create a symlink "netapp" pointing to /tools/symlink_folder

Command : ln -s /tools/symlink_folder netapp

Result : netapp -> /tools/symlink_folder

Working fine with full path!

Anyone facing such issue? Netapp keep on giving me KB on symlink.translation.... sigh

Re: partial symlink works in NFS ; failed in windows

Jeff_Yao — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 02:41:18 GMT

this might be helpful for u.......

http://now.netapp.com/NOW/knowledge/docs/ontap/rel7261_vs/html/ontap/filesag/accessing/task/t_oc_accs_controlling_CIFS_access_to_symbolic_links.html

There are two kinds of symbolic links:

Absolute symbolic links begin with a slash (/) and are treated as a path derived from the root of the file system.
Relative symbolic links begin with a character other than a slash (/) and are treated as a path relative to the parent directory of the symbolic link.

CIFS clients cannot create symbolic links, but they can follow the symbolic links created by NFS clients.There are special requirements to enable CIFS access to the following types of symbolic links:

Absolute symbolic links. Since the destination of an absolute symbolic link depends on the type of UNIX mount, CIFS clients need additional information to interpret absolute symbolic links.
Relative symbolic links to destinations on the same storage system outside the share in which the relative symbolic link is located. By default, Data ONTAP does not allow a CIFS client to follow a symbolic link outside the share to which the CIFS client is authenticated.

thanks a lot

Jeff

Re: partial symlink works in NFS ; failed in windows

oweinmann — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:18:00 GMT

Hi,

I'm currently also trying to achive this. CIFS should follow a symlink outside of the share. Is this possible at all?

Regards,

Oliver

Re: partial symlink works in NFS ; failed in windows

oweinmann — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:15:10 GMT

Solved my problem. Absolute paths are working great.

1. add widelink to cifs share

cifs shares -change sharename -widelink

2. add an entry in /vol/vol0/etc/symlink.translations

widelink absolute_mount_point_under_linux/* \\filer\Volume\directory\*