# Problem How to create a symbolic link? Use the `ln` command (link). Replace `src` with the name of the existing file for which you want to create the symbolic link (this file can be any existing file or directory across the file systems). Replace `dest` with the name of the symbolic link. The `ln` command then creates the symbolic link. After you've made the symbolic link, you can perform an operation on or execute `dest`, just as you could with the `src`. You can use normal file management commands (for example, `cp`, `rm`) on the symbolic link. ```bash ln -s src dest ln -s existing_file new_file # point x to y ln -s x y ``` ```r fread("datatest/test3.csv") # original file fread("datatest_symbolic/test3.csv") # symbolic link - works fread("datatest_alias/test3.csv") # alias - doesn't work! ``` # Resources - [Create a symbolic link in Unix](https://kb.iu.edu/d/abbe)