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Date:      Mon, 16 Mar 2009 11:22:13 -0400
From:      John Almberg <jalmberg@identry.com>
To:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   links vs real directories
Message-ID:  <AA5A8761-794A-427B-9E9F-2872BD746038@identry.com>

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I always thought that links to real directories were pretty much the  
same as real directories, but I've just discovered a situation where  
they are not and I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong...

I have a Ruby on Rails application running on a FreeBSD server. All  
Rails apps use the same directory structure, that consists of an  
application directory, plus a number of subdirectories. One of these  
sub directories is called 'config'.

I would like to move this config directory out of the main Rails app  
directory, and then add a link from the app directory to the moved  
config directory.

so:

app --> config

will become

app --> config(link) --> config

Basically, what I'm doing is:

cd ~/app     # now in directory with real 'config' dir
mv config ~/shared/config
ln -s ~/shared/config config

That moves the directory and creates a functional link to it (I  
tested it), but Rails doesn't like it and refuses to run the app. The  
permissions are correct, I believe:

[master@on:current]> ls -l
total 34
... snip ...
drwxrwxr-x  3 master  master   512 Mar 16 11:06 bin
drwxrwxr-x  3 master  master   512 Mar 16 11:06 components
lrwxr-xr-x  1 master  master    26 Mar 16 11:07 config -> /home/ 
master/shared/config
drwxr-xr-x  4 master  master   512 Mar 16 11:06 db
etc...


So, I guess a link is NOT exactly equivalent to a directory. At least  
not the way I am doing it.

I'm guessing I'm making a real newbie mistake, so if anyone can set  
me straight, I'd appreciate it.

Thank: John
  



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