CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonlinuxfilenamessymlink
Phil Boltt
Phil Boltt

Reputation: 786

How to find the filename of a script being run when it is executed from a symlink on linux

If I have a python script that is executed via a symlink, is there a way that I can find the path to the script rather than the symlink? I've tried using the methods suggested in this question, but they always return the path to the symlink, not the script.

For example, when this is saved as my "/usr/home/philboltt/scripts/test.py" :

#!/usr/bin/python

import sys

print sys.argv[0]
print __file__

and I then create this symlink

ln -s /usr/home/philboltt/scripts/test.py /usr/home/philboltt/test

and execute the script using

/usr/home/philboltt/test

I get the following output:

/usr/home/philboltt/test
/usr/home/philboltt/test

Thanks! Phil

Upvotes: 4

Views: 1287

Answers (3)

Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams

Reputation: 798676

os.readlink() will resolve a symlink, and os.path.islink() will tell you if it's a symlink in the first place.

Upvotes: 3

Josh Braegger
Josh Braegger

Reputation: 93

I believe you will need to check if the file is a symlink, and if so, get where it is linked to. For example...

try:
    print os.readlink(__file__)
except:
    print "File is not a symlink"

Upvotes: 0

SamB
SamB

Reputation: 9224

You want the os.path.realpath() function.

Upvotes: 8

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