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Forum Discussion

zephyr707's avatar
zephyr707
Helpful | Level 6
6 years ago

Best practices for using symlinks (symbolic links)

Hi there, I use dropbox on linux with symlinks, but am not sure which is the best/preferred way to use them. Is there a best practice for using this type of configuration? Currently I use symlink...
Create
Desktop
Linux
Sync
  • Daphne's avatar
    Daphne
    6 years ago
    Hey there zephyr707,
     
    I would strongly recommend sticking with the current configuration you currently have, which would be having the actual files in the Dropbox folder and having your symlinks in the home directory. In this case, it wouldn’t have any affect on the files syncing as the actual files are within the Dropbox folder.
     
    Issues occur with syncing when the files are located elsewhere and the symlink is within the Dropbox folder instead. This can cause performance issues and high CPU usage when trying to sync the files. In some cases, the desktop app may even just sync the symlink file itself and not the referenced file. This will mean the actual file won’t be synced to your Dropbox account so you wont be able to access the actual file via the web or other devices your account syncs to.
     
    Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions - Thanks!
Daphne's avatar
Daphne
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
Hey there zephyr707,
 
I would strongly recommend sticking with the current configuration you currently have, which would be having the actual files in the Dropbox folder and having your symlinks in the home directory. In this case, it wouldn’t have any affect on the files syncing as the actual files are within the Dropbox folder.
 
Issues occur with syncing when the files are located elsewhere and the symlink is within the Dropbox folder instead. This can cause performance issues and high CPU usage when trying to sync the files. In some cases, the desktop app may even just sync the symlink file itself and not the referenced file. This will mean the actual file won’t be synced to your Dropbox account so you wont be able to access the actual file via the web or other devices your account syncs to.
 
Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions - Thanks!
zephyr707's avatar
zephyr707
Helpful | Level 6
6 years ago

Hi Daphne,

Thanks for your response, sounds like sticking with the current setup definitely makes sense.

Also, while setting up dropbox on a live usb stick, I just discovered another reason for using symlinks pointing into the Dropbox folder. Doing the inverse would likely cause the data from each separate host to clobber the other host's data. With symlinks pointing the Dropbox folder I know have the same data across hosts that I want to share in common, which is pretty useful.

From what you describe, I guess as a best practice it would be advisable to not drop any symlinks into the Dropbox folder at all as it sounds pretty risky. I hope a better solution to dealing with symlinks is developed, but until then it sounds safe to avoid using them in any way within the Dropbox hierarchy structure.

Thanks for your help!

  • prophetofcs's avatar
    prophetofcs
    New member | Level 2
    6 years ago

    Before Dropbox changed it symbolic linking policy, I would add a symbolic link to my Dropbox folder. Dropbox would automatically upload a file whenever I added or changed it that folder. However, Dropbox has changed this feature. Therefore, I no longer need Dropbox. I can use OneDrive if I have to manually put my files in a separate folder to be synched.

    • TLA2c's avatar
      TLA2c
      New member | Level 2
      6 years ago

      Why is this marked solved? It is still broken.

      • malikjfernando's avatar
        malikjfernando
        Helpful | Level 5
        6 years ago

        yes no joy, really need to be able to link Mac OS Catalina desktop folder to Dropbox to be able to retrieve files from iOS as before

  • Daphne's avatar
    Daphne
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    6 years ago
    Hey again zephyr707,
     
    It seems like you have everything on point there, this set up will for sure be much more stable. I’m glad I could help to clarify the matter with you. :grin:
     
    If you have any other questions about this then please don’t hesitate to reach out to me here - Cheers! 
    • zephyr707's avatar
      zephyr707
      Helpful | Level 6
      6 years ago

      Awesome, thanks a lot, Daphne, I feel confident now setting it up this way!

      p.s. the little thumbs up like button doesn't seem to be working for me, but cheers for the help! 

      • Daphne's avatar
        Daphne
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        6 years ago
        I’m happy to hear you’re confident with this moving forward zephyr707!
         
        Hope you have a great weekend!
         
        PS. Thanks for letting me know that little hiccup there with the like button, I’ll have a look into this.

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