[Manual] Add information about symlinks on Windows

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sarangj
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Joined: 22. Mar 2021, 02:19

[Manual] Add information about symlinks on Windows

Post by sarangj »

Under Section 4.3 Shared Folders, the VirtualBox Manual states that symlinks are supported only on host operating systems that support symlinks, specifically listing "Mac OS X, Linux, or Oracle Solaris." However, Windows hosts support symbolic links as of 2016 (see: Symlinks in Windows 10! on the Windows blog, December 2, 2016), so I believe Windows should be included in the list on the manual. The only caveat is that the VirtualBox VM needs to be launched with Administrator privileges.
scottgus1
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Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: [Manual] Add information about symlinks on Windows

Post by scottgus1 »

So you're saying that you've found that symlinks work with Windows hosts as with other OS's, if Virtualbox is run as Admin? if so, you might want to post this on the Bugtracker as an enhancement request.

FWIW Running Virtualbox as Admin on Windows hosts is frowned upon, as it opens more vectors for malware on the host to get admin privileges too, if the malware can dig into Virtualbox. However, Virtualbox Raw Disk Access requires Run As Admin on Windows too, so it's a risk analysis.
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