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I have a folder in /media/sf_fedora which I want to access from Documents instead of going into /media each time, how can I create a shortcut. The 'Make Link' is grayed out in the Edit menu for some reason.

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The reason "make link" is grayed out is because /media is not writable and "make link" from the "Edit" menu normally creates a link in the current directory. To create a link in another directory you need to use drag and drop. – Guss Oct 18 '12 at 18:23
@guss Why is /media not writable? – SkyDan Oct 18 '12 at 18:23
Because its a system folder and normal users are not allowed to write to system folders. Also - because its the folder that is used to auto-mount dynamically added devices, you don't won't to create static folders there because the mounting service is likely to overwrite them if it ever needs to mount a device with the same label as your static folder. – Guss Oct 18 '12 at 18:24
Really, if we are talking about latest Fedora the automount is in /run/media/<user>/ folder. And /media is used for other purpose. – m0nhawk Oct 18 '12 at 18:32

2 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

Open terminal and ln -s /media/sf_fedora ~/Documents/sf_fedora would create a symlink in Documents folder.

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Also right clicking and dragging the sf_media folder into the Document folder should open a menu where one of the options is "make link". – Guss Oct 18 '12 at 18:22
@Guss It doesn't open a menu for some reason. – orange Oct 18 '12 at 18:36
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Another option is cd ~/Documents && ln -s /media/sf_fedora. I use it because I always forget which argument comes first: the folder I want a link for, or the path of the link to be created :) – SkyDan Oct 18 '12 at 18:37
@SkyDan: ln uses the same syntax as cp. From source, to destination. – bahamat Oct 18 '12 at 18:39
@bahamat: Are you sure? ln -s a b will create a symbolic link b to a, so the target (a) comes first, while the source (b) comes after. In cp a b it's exactly the opposite: a is the source, while b is the target, in this order. – Francesco Turco Oct 19 '12 at 11:31
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up vote 3 down vote

If you're using Nautilus, it has a dedicated mouse+key combo for creating symlinks:

Ctrl+Shift+drag

Alternatively, you can use either middle (wheel) click drag or Alt+drag to get a move/copy/link menu.

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Nice alternative to the above answer: it's graphical, which is what the OP was looking for! – SkyDan Oct 19 '12 at 17:37

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