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Common Issues & Help

Problem​

Symbolic links (symlinks) are not synchronized by the OpenCloud Desktop Client. Users often wonder why linked folders or files are missing or not accessible.

Reasoning​

Symlinks are deliberately excluded from synchronization for several important reasons:

  • Not portable: Symlinks often point to paths that only exist on the original machine. On another device, the target path likely doesn't exist.
  • Not usable in the web interface: The web interface cannot interpret or display symlinks.
  • Problematic on Windows: Symlink support on Windows is limited and inconsistent.
  • Risk of circular references: Symlinks could point to each other in loops, causing infinite synchronization cycles.
  • Loss of identity: If the client were to follow the link and synchronize the target, it would become a regular copy of the data. The original nature of the symlink would be lost.

Solution​

Sync Folders Outside the Sync Root Using Symlinks

If you want to synchronize a folder that is located outside your sync root, you can still achieve this by moving the folder into your sync root and replacing the original location with a symlink.

Example​

You want to synchronize the folder /foo/A, but your sync root is /home/bar/OpenCloud/Personal.

  1. Move the folder into your sync root:

    mv /foo/A /home/bar/OpenCloud/Personal/foo/A