Bug #52176 [Com]: unlink() cannot delete symbolic link which points to a directory

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=52176&edit=1 ID: 52176 Comment by: lucas dot ekrause at gmail dot com Reported by: o_shes01 at uni-muenster dot de Summary: unlink() cannot delete symbolic link which points to a directory Status: Not a bug Type: Bug Package: Filesystem function related Operating System: Windows Vista SP2 PHP Version: 5.3.2 Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: @felipe@php.net > Please double-check the documentation [...] I did, but didn't find anything documenting this issue. Can you please post a link to the page which is documenting it? Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2013-07-03 15:39:38] kulbakin at ya dot ru Have similar issue with Windows 7 64 bit php 5.3.26 unlink() for a link created earlier with symlink() call for a directory returns Warning: unlink([...]): Permission denied in [...] on line [...] and rmdir() works for it, but on *nix unlink() works for such links. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2011-12-15 13:54:10] o_shes01 at uni-muenster dot de Assuming that $fname is absolute filename of a symbolic link, which points to a directory. On Linux, unlink($fname) deletes the link itself, and rmdir($fname) does NOT work. On Windows, unlink($fname) does not work, and rmdir($fname) deletes the link. This behaviour is not documented in any way. If this is not a bug, then which is the correct way to delete a symbolic link which points to a directory? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2011-11-15 15:55:07] felipe@php.net Thank you for taking the time to write to us, but this is not a bug. Please double-check the documentation available at http://www.php.net/manual/ and the instructions on how to report a bug at http://bugs.php.net/how-to-report.php ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2010-06-24 19:37:57] o_shes01 at uni-muenster dot de Description: ------------ unlink($fname) fails if the file named by $fname is a symbolic link which points to a directory. Such a link (not the directory which it points to!) can however be deleted via "rmdir($fname)", which is also a bug (IMHO). Note: if the link points to a regular file (not directory), then unlink works as expected (deletes the link, not the file pointed to). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=52176&edit=1