How to create a Hardlink using the New-Hardlink PowerShell PSCX command

Question

I want to create a new Hardlink with the PowerShell Community Extensions PSCX commandlet New-Hardlink http://pscx.codeplex.com/. I have read the man file and tried almost every combination of commands but it won't work. What am I missing? (I know about fsutil, but I want to use this commandlet/alias)

Here is the directory structure: E:\Source E:\Test

Here are some variations of the command that I have tried:

New-Hardlink E:\Test\Source E:\Source
New-Hardlink -Path:"E:\Test\Source" -Target:"E:\Source"
New-Hardlink E:\Source E:\Test\Source
New-Hardlink E:\Source E:\Test\
New-Hardlink -P:"E:\Source" -T:"E:\Test\Source"

Here is the supposed syntax:

New-Hardlink [-Path] <String> [-Target] <String> [<CommonParameters>]

-Path <String>
    Path to the new link.

-Target <String>
    Target of the link.

The result is always some from of:

New-Hardlink : Unable to find the file 'E:\Source.

Does this command not work with directories but only with files?

Hey - can you log a bug on the pscx.codeplex.com issue tracker for this? I'll fix this in the next release - it really should be checking that the hardlinks are for files only. New-Junction is what you want (answered below). Thanks! — x0n, Aug 21 '09 at 16:07
Thanks, here's the issue link http://pscx.codeplex.com/WorkItem/View.aspx?WorkItemId=24422 — jedatu, Sep 01 '09 at 09:46
Hardlinks got easier in Win10: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/31863258/how-do-i-create-file-hardlink-in-powershell-on-windows-10/31863275#31863275 — yzorg, Aug 06 '15 at 18:33

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 20 '09 at 07:21

I will sheepishly answer my own question.

Yes, indeed Hardlinks refer to files. To accomplish this with directories the New-Junction command should be used like so:

New-Junction E:\Test\Dest E:\Source

The first parameter refers to the location you would like to place the new Junction.

The second parameter refers to the directory you wish to Junction

score 5 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 20 '20 at 16:38

Powershell 5+ include a native way to create any types of hard-/soft-links and junctions.

For those coming from Google:

PowerShell 5.0 and above have support for creating Symbolic Links and Junctions using the New-Item cmdlet.

In the following, clicking on B.txt will take you to A.txt. Similarly for a directory.

# To create a symbolic link on a file:
New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Name B.txt -Target A.txt
New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path C:\Temp\B.txt -Value A.txt

# To create a hard-link on a file:
New-Item -ItemType HardLink -Path C:\B.txt -Value C:\A.txt

# To create a symbolic link on a directory:
New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Name B_Directory -Target C:\A_Directory

# To create a junction on a directory:
New-Item -ItemType Junction -Path C:\Junction -Value C:\A_Directory

How to create a Hardlink using the New-Hardlink PowerShell PSCX command

2 Answers2