Failed to create symbolic link?

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I'm trying to symlink file /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link to /boot/00-default.link. This allows me to force a change to my MAC address from the boot directory, which is the only directory accessible from my Mac computer when I plug in the SD card.

However, when I use the command:

sudo ln -s /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link /boot/00-default.link

I receive the error:

ln: failed to create symbolic link '/boot/00-default.link': Operation not permitted

Any idea what might be causing this?

Note: I've created /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link already but I have not yet created /boot/00-default.link

asked 4 hours ago

Matt

2129

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up vote
1
down vote

favorite

However, when I use the command:

sudo ln -s /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link /boot/00-default.link

I receive the error:

ln: failed to create symbolic link '/boot/00-default.link': Operation not permitted

Any idea what might be causing this?

Note: I've created /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link already but I have not yet created /boot/00-default.link

asked 4 hours ago

Matt

2129

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

favorite

However, when I use the command:

sudo ln -s /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link /boot/00-default.link

I receive the error:

ln: failed to create symbolic link '/boot/00-default.link': Operation not permitted

Any idea what might be causing this?

Note: I've created /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link already but I have not yet created /boot/00-default.link

asked 4 hours ago

Matt

2129

However, when I use the command:

sudo ln -s /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link /boot/00-default.link

I receive the error:

ln: failed to create symbolic link '/boot/00-default.link': Operation not permitted

Any idea what might be causing this?

Note: I've created /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link already but I have not yet created /boot/00-default.link

linux raspbian-stretch

asked 4 hours ago

Matt

2129

asked 4 hours ago

Matt

2129

asked 4 hours ago

Matt

2129

asked 4 hours ago

Matt

2129

asked 4 hours ago

Matt

2129

add a commentÂ |Â

2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

up vote
2
down vote

accepted

/boot is a FAT filesystem that unfortunately does not support symbolic links.

So this cannot work

sudo ln -s /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link /boot/00-default.link

Turning it around and placing the file itself (source) on /boot and the link (target) on /etc however should do

sudo ln -s /boot/00-default.link /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link

This would however lack unixoid access permissions for the file - if that is an issue.

edited 3 hours ago

answered 4 hours ago

Ghanimaâ™¦

11.4k93874

Interesting. I've noticed that if I move the file into /boot/ then symlink that file into somewhere else it works fine though, how is it able to work in one direction and not the other though?
â€“Â Matt
4 hours ago

Follow up question - since /boot/ requires a hard copy of the file and /etc/systemd/network/ also requires a hard copy to change the MAC address, would it be possible to use an intermediary third symlinked file as a bridge between the two hard files (meaning I could edit hard file /boot/00-default.link, which would edit the symlink /home/Pi/Desktop/bridge.link which in turn would edit hard copy of /etc/systemd/00-default.link)? Hopefully that made sense
â€“Â Matt
4 hours ago

1

w.r.t. the first comment, so you have a link from a unixoid FS to the vfat partition? That's just fine.
â€“Â Ghanimaâ™¦
4 hours ago

correct, I have a hard file /boot/my_script.py with symlink /home/Pi/Desktop/my_symlinked_script.py
â€“Â Matt
3 hours ago

Thanks for adding that edit @Ghaninma, that clarified a lot. I believe in this case the lack of unixoid access permissions is causing an issue for whatever reason. Can you think of any way to get around that while still linking the file to /boot/
â€“Â Matt
3 hours ago

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

From your earlier questions, I know why you want to do this from boot, and symlinking /boot/00-default.link to /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link doesn't help, because /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link seems to be processed before /boot is mounted - therefore /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link is a broken link at the time it is being processed

I don't know if this is fact, but I know that linking that way also doesn't help, so I am assuming it to be fact :p

Here's a solution I came up with :p

Create a service in /etc/systemd/system - lets call it macoverride.service

[Unit]
Description=Copy user mac_override.link
ConditionPathExists=/boot/mac_override.link
After=local-fs.target

[Service]
Type=oneshot
RemainAfterExit=yes
ExecStart=/bin/mv /boot/mac_override.link /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link
ExecStartPost=/sbin/reboot

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Now, enable it

sudo systemctl enable /etc/systemd/system/macoverride.service

What this service does is

if /boot/mac_override.link exists - move it to /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link

reboot

Now, since step 1 moves the file, it won't exist after the reboot - so there's no chance of a reboot loop :p

answered 52 mins ago

Jaromanda X

640169

The OP might want to consider accepting this answer as it addresses the "implicit" issue of the question far better than mine ;) Your approach reminds me of what Raspbian is doing with the wpa_supplicant.conf file that is magically transferred from /boot to the correct spot somewhere in /etc.
â€“Â Ghanimaâ™¦
23 mins ago

@Ghanima - your answer actually answers the question though, so more useful for "future readers" - I've helped the OP in two other questions, so I kinda know the overall picture of what he's trying to achieve - as such, while this answer does provide a possible solution (there are others) this doesn't really answer the question, and so, not really helpful to anyone but Matt :p
â€“Â Jaromanda X
13 mins ago

add a commentÂ |Â

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2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

up vote
2
down vote

accepted

/boot is a FAT filesystem that unfortunately does not support symbolic links.

So this cannot work

sudo ln -s /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link /boot/00-default.link

Turning it around and placing the file itself (source) on /boot and the link (target) on /etc however should do

sudo ln -s /boot/00-default.link /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link

This would however lack unixoid access permissions for the file - if that is an issue.

edited 3 hours ago

answered 4 hours ago

Ghanimaâ™¦

11.4k93874

Interesting. I've noticed that if I move the file into /boot/ then symlink that file into somewhere else it works fine though, how is it able to work in one direction and not the other though?
â€“Â Matt
4 hours ago

Follow up question - since /boot/ requires a hard copy of the file and /etc/systemd/network/ also requires a hard copy to change the MAC address, would it be possible to use an intermediary third symlinked file as a bridge between the two hard files (meaning I could edit hard file /boot/00-default.link, which would edit the symlink /home/Pi/Desktop/bridge.link which in turn would edit hard copy of /etc/systemd/00-default.link)? Hopefully that made sense
â€“Â Matt
4 hours ago

1

w.r.t. the first comment, so you have a link from a unixoid FS to the vfat partition? That's just fine.
â€“Â Ghanimaâ™¦
4 hours ago

correct, I have a hard file /boot/my_script.py with symlink /home/Pi/Desktop/my_symlinked_script.py
â€“Â Matt
3 hours ago

Thanks for adding that edit @Ghaninma, that clarified a lot. I believe in this case the lack of unixoid access permissions is causing an issue for whatever reason. Can you think of any way to get around that while still linking the file to /boot/
â€“Â Matt
3 hours ago

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
2
down vote

accepted

/boot is a FAT filesystem that unfortunately does not support symbolic links.

So this cannot work

sudo ln -s /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link /boot/00-default.link

Turning it around and placing the file itself (source) on /boot and the link (target) on /etc however should do

sudo ln -s /boot/00-default.link /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link

This would however lack unixoid access permissions for the file - if that is an issue.

edited 3 hours ago

answered 4 hours ago

Ghanimaâ™¦

11.4k93874

Interesting. I've noticed that if I move the file into /boot/ then symlink that file into somewhere else it works fine though, how is it able to work in one direction and not the other though?
â€“Â Matt
4 hours ago

Follow up question - since /boot/ requires a hard copy of the file and /etc/systemd/network/ also requires a hard copy to change the MAC address, would it be possible to use an intermediary third symlinked file as a bridge between the two hard files (meaning I could edit hard file /boot/00-default.link, which would edit the symlink /home/Pi/Desktop/bridge.link which in turn would edit hard copy of /etc/systemd/00-default.link)? Hopefully that made sense
â€“Â Matt
4 hours ago

1

w.r.t. the first comment, so you have a link from a unixoid FS to the vfat partition? That's just fine.
â€“Â Ghanimaâ™¦
4 hours ago

correct, I have a hard file /boot/my_script.py with symlink /home/Pi/Desktop/my_symlinked_script.py
â€“Â Matt
3 hours ago

Thanks for adding that edit @Ghaninma, that clarified a lot. I believe in this case the lack of unixoid access permissions is causing an issue for whatever reason. Can you think of any way to get around that while still linking the file to /boot/
â€“Â Matt
3 hours ago

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
2
down vote

accepted

/boot is a FAT filesystem that unfortunately does not support symbolic links.

So this cannot work

sudo ln -s /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link /boot/00-default.link

Turning it around and placing the file itself (source) on /boot and the link (target) on /etc however should do

sudo ln -s /boot/00-default.link /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link

This would however lack unixoid access permissions for the file - if that is an issue.

edited 3 hours ago

answered 4 hours ago

Ghanimaâ™¦

11.4k93874

/boot is a FAT filesystem that unfortunately does not support symbolic links.

So this cannot work

sudo ln -s /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link /boot/00-default.link

Turning it around and placing the file itself (source) on /boot and the link (target) on /etc however should do

sudo ln -s /boot/00-default.link /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link

This would however lack unixoid access permissions for the file - if that is an issue.

edited 3 hours ago

answered 4 hours ago

Ghanimaâ™¦

11.4k93874

edited 3 hours ago

answered 4 hours ago

Ghanimaâ™¦

11.4k93874

answered 4 hours ago

Ghanimaâ™¦

11.4k93874

answered 4 hours ago

Ghanimaâ™¦

11.4k93874

Interesting. I've noticed that if I move the file into /boot/ then symlink that file into somewhere else it works fine though, how is it able to work in one direction and not the other though?
â€“Â Matt
4 hours ago

Follow up question - since /boot/ requires a hard copy of the file and /etc/systemd/network/ also requires a hard copy to change the MAC address, would it be possible to use an intermediary third symlinked file as a bridge between the two hard files (meaning I could edit hard file /boot/00-default.link, which would edit the symlink /home/Pi/Desktop/bridge.link which in turn would edit hard copy of /etc/systemd/00-default.link)? Hopefully that made sense
â€“Â Matt
4 hours ago

1

w.r.t. the first comment, so you have a link from a unixoid FS to the vfat partition? That's just fine.
â€“Â Ghanimaâ™¦
4 hours ago

correct, I have a hard file /boot/my_script.py with symlink /home/Pi/Desktop/my_symlinked_script.py
â€“Â Matt
3 hours ago

Thanks for adding that edit @Ghaninma, that clarified a lot. I believe in this case the lack of unixoid access permissions is causing an issue for whatever reason. Can you think of any way to get around that while still linking the file to /boot/
â€“Â Matt
3 hours ago

add a commentÂ |Â

Interesting. I've noticed that if I move the file into /boot/ then symlink that file into somewhere else it works fine though, how is it able to work in one direction and not the other though?
â€“Â Matt
4 hours ago

Follow up question - since /boot/ requires a hard copy of the file and /etc/systemd/network/ also requires a hard copy to change the MAC address, would it be possible to use an intermediary third symlinked file as a bridge between the two hard files (meaning I could edit hard file /boot/00-default.link, which would edit the symlink /home/Pi/Desktop/bridge.link which in turn would edit hard copy of /etc/systemd/00-default.link)? Hopefully that made sense
â€“Â Matt
4 hours ago

1

w.r.t. the first comment, so you have a link from a unixoid FS to the vfat partition? That's just fine.
â€“Â Ghanimaâ™¦
4 hours ago

correct, I have a hard file /boot/my_script.py with symlink /home/Pi/Desktop/my_symlinked_script.py
â€“Â Matt
3 hours ago

Thanks for adding that edit @Ghaninma, that clarified a lot. I believe in this case the lack of unixoid access permissions is causing an issue for whatever reason. Can you think of any way to get around that while still linking the file to /boot/
â€“Â Matt
3 hours ago

Interesting. I've noticed that if I move the file into /boot/ then symlink that file into somewhere else it works fine though, how is it able to work in one direction and not the other though?
â€“Â Matt
4 hours ago

Follow up question - since /boot/ requires a hard copy of the file and /etc/systemd/network/ also requires a hard copy to change the MAC address, would it be possible to use an intermediary third symlinked file as a bridge between the two hard files (meaning I could edit hard file /boot/00-default.link, which would edit the symlink /home/Pi/Desktop/bridge.link which in turn would edit hard copy of /etc/systemd/00-default.link)? Hopefully that made sense
â€“Â Matt
4 hours ago

w.r.t. the first comment, so you have a link from a unixoid FS to the vfat partition? That's just fine.
â€“Â Ghanimaâ™¦
4 hours ago

correct, I have a hard file /boot/my_script.py with symlink /home/Pi/Desktop/my_symlinked_script.py
â€“Â Matt
3 hours ago

Thanks for adding that edit @Ghaninma, that clarified a lot. I believe in this case the lack of unixoid access permissions is causing an issue for whatever reason. Can you think of any way to get around that while still linking the file to /boot/
â€“Â Matt
3 hours ago

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

I don't know if this is fact, but I know that linking that way also doesn't help, so I am assuming it to be fact :p

Here's a solution I came up with :p

Create a service in /etc/systemd/system - lets call it macoverride.service

[Unit]
Description=Copy user mac_override.link
ConditionPathExists=/boot/mac_override.link
After=local-fs.target

[Service]
Type=oneshot
RemainAfterExit=yes
ExecStart=/bin/mv /boot/mac_override.link /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link
ExecStartPost=/sbin/reboot

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Now, enable it

sudo systemctl enable /etc/systemd/system/macoverride.service

What this service does is

if /boot/mac_override.link exists - move it to /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link

reboot

Now, since step 1 moves the file, it won't exist after the reboot - so there's no chance of a reboot loop :p

answered 52 mins ago

Jaromanda X

640169

The OP might want to consider accepting this answer as it addresses the "implicit" issue of the question far better than mine ;) Your approach reminds me of what Raspbian is doing with the wpa_supplicant.conf file that is magically transferred from /boot to the correct spot somewhere in /etc.
â€“Â Ghanimaâ™¦
23 mins ago

@Ghanima - your answer actually answers the question though, so more useful for "future readers" - I've helped the OP in two other questions, so I kinda know the overall picture of what he's trying to achieve - as such, while this answer does provide a possible solution (there are others) this doesn't really answer the question, and so, not really helpful to anyone but Matt :p
â€“Â Jaromanda X
13 mins ago

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

I don't know if this is fact, but I know that linking that way also doesn't help, so I am assuming it to be fact :p

Here's a solution I came up with :p

Create a service in /etc/systemd/system - lets call it macoverride.service

[Unit]
Description=Copy user mac_override.link
ConditionPathExists=/boot/mac_override.link
After=local-fs.target

[Service]
Type=oneshot
RemainAfterExit=yes
ExecStart=/bin/mv /boot/mac_override.link /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link
ExecStartPost=/sbin/reboot

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Now, enable it

sudo systemctl enable /etc/systemd/system/macoverride.service

What this service does is

if /boot/mac_override.link exists - move it to /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link

reboot

Now, since step 1 moves the file, it won't exist after the reboot - so there's no chance of a reboot loop :p

answered 52 mins ago

Jaromanda X

640169

The OP might want to consider accepting this answer as it addresses the "implicit" issue of the question far better than mine ;) Your approach reminds me of what Raspbian is doing with the wpa_supplicant.conf file that is magically transferred from /boot to the correct spot somewhere in /etc.
â€“Â Ghanimaâ™¦
23 mins ago

@Ghanima - your answer actually answers the question though, so more useful for "future readers" - I've helped the OP in two other questions, so I kinda know the overall picture of what he's trying to achieve - as such, while this answer does provide a possible solution (there are others) this doesn't really answer the question, and so, not really helpful to anyone but Matt :p
â€“Â Jaromanda X
13 mins ago

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

I don't know if this is fact, but I know that linking that way also doesn't help, so I am assuming it to be fact :p

Here's a solution I came up with :p

Create a service in /etc/systemd/system - lets call it macoverride.service

[Unit]
Description=Copy user mac_override.link
ConditionPathExists=/boot/mac_override.link
After=local-fs.target

[Service]
Type=oneshot
RemainAfterExit=yes
ExecStart=/bin/mv /boot/mac_override.link /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link
ExecStartPost=/sbin/reboot

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Now, enable it

sudo systemctl enable /etc/systemd/system/macoverride.service

What this service does is

if /boot/mac_override.link exists - move it to /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link

reboot

Now, since step 1 moves the file, it won't exist after the reboot - so there's no chance of a reboot loop :p

answered 52 mins ago

Jaromanda X

640169

I don't know if this is fact, but I know that linking that way also doesn't help, so I am assuming it to be fact :p

Here's a solution I came up with :p

Create a service in /etc/systemd/system - lets call it macoverride.service

[Unit]
Description=Copy user mac_override.link
ConditionPathExists=/boot/mac_override.link
After=local-fs.target

[Service]
Type=oneshot
RemainAfterExit=yes
ExecStart=/bin/mv /boot/mac_override.link /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link
ExecStartPost=/sbin/reboot

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Now, enable it

sudo systemctl enable /etc/systemd/system/macoverride.service

What this service does is

if /boot/mac_override.link exists - move it to /etc/systemd/network/00-default.link

reboot

Now, since step 1 moves the file, it won't exist after the reboot - so there's no chance of a reboot loop :p

answered 52 mins ago

Jaromanda X

640169

answered 52 mins ago

Jaromanda X

640169

answered 52 mins ago

Jaromanda X

640169

answered 52 mins ago

Jaromanda X

640169

The OP might want to consider accepting this answer as it addresses the "implicit" issue of the question far better than mine ;) Your approach reminds me of what Raspbian is doing with the wpa_supplicant.conf file that is magically transferred from /boot to the correct spot somewhere in /etc.
â€“Â Ghanimaâ™¦
23 mins ago

@Ghanima - your answer actually answers the question though, so more useful for "future readers" - I've helped the OP in two other questions, so I kinda know the overall picture of what he's trying to achieve - as such, while this answer does provide a possible solution (there are others) this doesn't really answer the question, and so, not really helpful to anyone but Matt :p
â€“Â Jaromanda X
13 mins ago

add a commentÂ |Â

The OP might want to consider accepting this answer as it addresses the "implicit" issue of the question far better than mine ;) Your approach reminds me of what Raspbian is doing with the wpa_supplicant.conf file that is magically transferred from /boot to the correct spot somewhere in /etc.
â€“Â Ghanimaâ™¦
23 mins ago

@Ghanima - your answer actually answers the question though, so more useful for "future readers" - I've helped the OP in two other questions, so I kinda know the overall picture of what he's trying to achieve - as such, while this answer does provide a possible solution (there are others) this doesn't really answer the question, and so, not really helpful to anyone but Matt :p
â€“Â Jaromanda X
13 mins ago

The OP might want to consider accepting this answer as it addresses the "implicit" issue of the question far better than mine ;) Your approach reminds me of what Raspbian is doing with the wpa_supplicant.conf file that is magically transferred from /boot to the correct spot somewhere in /etc.
â€“Â Ghanimaâ™¦
23 mins ago

@Ghanima - your answer actually answers the question though, so more useful for "future readers" - I've helped the OP in two other questions, so I kinda know the overall picture of what he's trying to achieve - as such, while this answer does provide a possible solution (there are others) this doesn't really answer the question, and so, not really helpful to anyone but Matt :p
â€“Â Jaromanda X
13 mins ago

add a commentÂ |Â

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