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wed 2026-10-07 17:58 UTC

[PATCH 00/18] Support symbolic links on Windows

From
Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget <gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
Date
Dec 17, 2025, 14:08 UTC
Message-ID
<pull.2018.git.1765980535.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>

This finally upstreams Git for Windows' support for Windows' branch of symbolic links, which has been maturing since 2015. It is based off of js/prep-symlink-windows.

Bill Zissimopoulos (1):
  mingw: compute the correct size for symlinks in `mingw_lstat()`
Johannes Schindelin (3):
  mingw: try to create symlinks without elevated permissions
  mingw: emulate `stat()` a little more faithfully
  mingw: special-case index entries for symlinks with buggy size
Karsten Blees (14):
  mingw: don't call `GetFileAttributes()` twice in `mingw_lstat()`
  mingw: implement `stat()` with symlink support
  mingw: drop the separate `do_lstat()` function
  mingw: let `mingw_lstat()` error early upon problems with reparse
    points
  mingw: teach dirent about symlinks
  mingw: factor out the retry logic
  mingw: change default of `core.symlinks` to false
  mingw: add symlink-specific error codes
  mingw: handle symlinks to directories in `mingw_unlink()`
  mingw: support renaming symlinks
  mingw: allow `mingw_chdir()` to change to symlink-resolved directories
  mingw: implement `readlink()`
  mingw: implement basic `symlink()` functionality (file symlinks only)
  mingw: add support for symlinks to directories
 compat/mingw-posix.h  |   6 +-
 compat/mingw.c        | 635 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----------
 compat/win32.h        |   6 +-
 compat/win32/dirent.c |   5 +-
 read-cache.c          |  11 +
 5 files changed, 507 insertions(+), 156 deletions(-)
base-commit: 6f6fe02f5fe587ec9788f8a5a34281949d7b2ca1
Published-As: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/releases/tag/pr-2018%2Fdscho%2Fsymlinks-next-v1
Fetch-It-Via: git fetch https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git pr-2018/dscho/symlinks-next-v1
Pull-Request: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/pull/2018
-- 
gitgitgadget
Next: Karsten Blees via GitGitGadget
Message 1 of 51 in “Support symbolic links on Windows”
  1. 00/18 Support symbolic links on WindowsJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  2. 01/18 mingw: don't call `GetFileAttributes()` twice in `mingw_lstat()`Karsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  3. 02/18 mingw: implement `stat()` with symlink supportKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  4. 03/18 mingw: drop the separate `do_lstat()` functionKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  5. 04/18 mingw: let `mingw_lstat()` error early upon problems with reparse pointsKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  6. 05/18 mingw: teach dirent about symlinksKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  7. 06/18 mingw: compute the correct size for symlinks in `mingw_lstat()`Bill Zissimopoulos via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  8. 07/18 mingw: factor out the retry logicKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  9. 08/18 mingw: change default of `core.symlinks` to falseKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  10. 09/18 mingw: add symlink-specific error codesKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  11. 10/18 mingw: handle symlinks to directories in `mingw_unlink()`Karsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  12. 11/18 mingw: support renaming symlinksKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  13. 12/18 mingw: allow `mingw_chdir()` to change to symlink-resolved directoriesKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  14. 13/18 mingw: implement `readlink()`Karsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  15. 14/18 mingw: implement basic `symlink()` functionality (file symlinks only)Karsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  16. 15/18 mingw: add support for symlinks to directoriesKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  17. 16/18 mingw: try to create symlinks without elevated permissionsJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  18. 17/18 mingw: emulate `stat()` a little more faithfullyJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  19. 18/18 mingw: special-case index entries for symlinks with buggy sizeJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  20. Junio C HamanoDec 18, 2025
  21. Ben KnobleDec 18, 2025
  22. Johannes SixtDec 18, 2025
  23. Johannes SixtDec 18, 2025
  24. Johannes SixtDec 18, 2025
  25. Johannes SixtDec 18, 2025
  26. Johannes SixtDec 18, 2025
  27. Johannes SixtDec 18, 2025
  28. Karsten BleesDec 18, 2025
  29. Johannes SchindelinJan 9, 2026
  30. Johannes SchindelinJan 9, 2026
  31. Johannes SchindelinJan 9, 2026
  32. Johannes SchindelinJan 9, 2026
  33. 00/18 Support symbolic links on WindowsJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  34. 01/18 mingw: don't call `GetFileAttributes()` twice in `mingw_lstat()`Karsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  35. 02/18 mingw: implement `stat()` with symlink supportKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  36. 03/18 mingw: drop the separate `do_lstat()` functionKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  37. 04/18 mingw: let `mingw_lstat()` error early upon problems with reparse pointsKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  38. 05/18 mingw: teach dirent about symlinksKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  39. 06/18 mingw: compute the correct size for symlinks in `mingw_lstat()`Bill Zissimopoulos via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  40. 07/18 mingw: factor out the retry logicKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  41. 08/18 mingw: change default of `core.symlinks` to falseKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  42. 09/18 mingw: add symlink-specific error codesKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  43. 11/18 mingw: support renaming symlinksKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  44. 10/18 mingw: handle symlinks to directories in `mingw_unlink()`Karsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  45. 12/18 mingw: allow `mingw_chdir()` to change to symlink-resolved directoriesKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  46. 13/18 mingw: implement `readlink()`Karsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  47. 14/18 mingw: implement basic `symlink()` functionality (file symlinks only)Karsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  48. 15/18 mingw: add support for symlinks to directoriesKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  49. 16/18 mingw: try to create symlinks without elevated permissionsJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  50. 17/18 mingw: emulate `stat()` a little more faithfullyJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  51. 18/18 mingw: special-case index entries for symlinks with buggy sizeJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026

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