Boost C++ Libraries: Ticket #4153: Add symlink support for bjam on Windows https://svn.boost.org/trac10/ticket/4153 <p> Currently bjam does not supports symlinks under Windows and it does copy the files instead. This is doubling the required disk space for boost libraries (overhead of ~1.4GB). </p> <p> Windows does supports several types of symlinks and hardlinks. </p> <p> The problem is that there are several limitations that require to make a wise decision regarding implementation: </p> <p> NT symlinks are limited to 32 per path so we cannot use them for libraries. </p> <p> Instead we can create hardlinks because they do not have this limitation. </p> <p> Now regarding hardlinks: </p> <ul><li>NTFS is required (not FAT32 support but this shouldn't be a real limitation in 2010). The same limitation would apply if you have FAT32 on Linux. </li><li>Hardlink can be created using two options: fsutil hardlink create (XP+, but requires Admin rights), or mklink /H (Vista+, requires 'Create symbolic link' privilege that by default is assigned to Administrators group.) </li></ul><p> I could easily patch symlink.jab file to use mklink or fsutil but I don't know if the above limitation are a blocking issue for accepting the patch. If this is true what would be the requirements for adding this feature to bjam? </p> <p> I'm not sure if I can check the current partition type and privileges using jam but I could easily check if mklink fails and fallback to copy. </p> en-us Boost C++ Libraries /htdocs/site/boost.png https://svn.boost.org/trac10/ticket/4153 Trac 1.4.3 viboes Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:05:40 GMT <link>https://svn.boost.org/trac10/ticket/4153#comment:1 </link> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://svn.boost.org/trac10/ticket/4153#comment:1</guid> <description> <p> Could we change this to Feature <a class="missing wiki">Request/Optimization</a>? </p> </description> <category>Ticket</category> </item> <item> <author>yuryu@…</author> <pubDate>Wed, 15 Dec 2010 13:42:14 GMT</pubDate> <title/> <link>https://svn.boost.org/trac10/ticket/4153#comment:2 </link> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://svn.boost.org/trac10/ticket/4153#comment:2</guid> <description> <p> On Windows 7, I tried to create a hardlink with mklink /H and it worked without administrators privilege(I don't know if it works on Vista). </p> <p> <a class="missing wiki">CreateHardLink</a> API doesn't require administrator privilege even on XP and works from 2000. Creating a small utility to make hardlinks would be a possible solution for older OSes? </p> <p> Hardlinks work exactly like files, so there will be no compatibility problems. </p> <p> Boost library is wasting hundreds of MBs on a Windows installation and this is not a minor issue. </p> </description> <category>Ticket</category> </item> <item> <author>Marcus Lindblom <macke@…></author> <pubDate>Mon, 21 Feb 2011 14:18:03 GMT</pubDate> <title>cc set https://svn.boost.org/trac10/ticket/4153#comment:3 https://svn.boost.org/trac10/ticket/4153#comment:3 <ul> <li><strong>cc</strong> <span class="trac-author">macke@…</span> added </li> </ul> Ticket René Rivera Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:58:18 GMT owner, component changed https://svn.boost.org/trac10/ticket/4153#comment:4 https://svn.boost.org/trac10/ticket/4153#comment:4 <ul> <li><strong>owner</strong> changed from <span class="trac-author">René Rivera</span> to <span class="trac-author">Vladimir Prus</span> </li> <li><strong>component</strong> <span class="trac-field-old">bjam</span> → <span class="trac-field-new">build</span> </li> </ul> Ticket enelar@… Fri, 14 Nov 2014 01:31:24 GMT <link>https://svn.boost.org/trac10/ticket/4153#comment:5 </link> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://svn.boost.org/trac10/ticket/4153#comment:5</guid> <description> <p> Right now i am have reverse require, i could not build boost under FAT32(using with SSD). How to force it DOT NOT try using symlink? </p> </description> <category>Ticket</category> </item> </channel> </rss>