Error creating symbolic links of the data library file.

Error message

Error creating symbolic links of the data library file.

What it means

pkg_createSymLinks() returned non-zero when called from the top-level packaging function (line 826). This function creates symbolic links from the versioned library file to the major-version name (e.g. libicudata.so.76 -> libicudata.so.76.1). The failure means the 'ln -s' or 'rm' shell command inside runCommand() exited with a non-zero status.

Source

Thrown at deps/icu-small/source/tools/pkgdata/pkgdata.cpp:826

                /* Certain platforms uses archive library. (e.g. AIX) */
                if(o->verbose) {
                  fprintf(stdout, "# Creating data archive library file ..\n");
                }
                result = pkg_archiveLibrary(targetDir, o->version, reverseExt);
                if (result != 0) {
                    fprintf(stderr, "Error creating data archive library file.\n");
                   return result;
                }
#if U_PLATFORM != U_PF_OS400
                if (!noVersion) {
                    /* Create symbolic links for the final library file. */
#if U_PLATFORM == U_PF_OS390
                    result = pkg_createSymLinks(targetDir, o->pdsbuild);
#else
                    result = pkg_createSymLinks(targetDir, noVersion);
#endif
                    if (result != 0) {
                        fprintf(stderr, "Error creating symbolic links of the data library file.\n");
                        return result;
                    }
                }
#endif
            } /* !IN_STATIC_MODE */
#endif

#if !U_PLATFORM_USES_ONLY_WIN32_API
            /* Install the libraries if option was set. */
            if (o->install != nullptr) {
                if(o->verbose) {
                  fprintf(stdout, "# Installing library file to %s ..\n", o->install);
                }
                result = pkg_installLibrary(o->install, targetDir, noVersion);
                if (result != 0) {
                    fprintf(stderr, "Error installing the data library.\n");
                    return result;
                }

View on GitHub (pinned to 1b2de5e052)

Solutions

Check write permissions on the target directory.
Verify the versioned library file exists before pkg_createSymLinks is called.
If on a filesystem without symlink support, use IN_STATIC_MODE or a flat file layout.
Run the printed 'ln -s' command manually to see the OS-level error.

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Before packaging, verify the target dir supports symlinks and is writable
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>

bool canCreateSymlinks(const char* dir) {
    if (access(dir, W_OK) != 0) return false;
    char testpath[1024];
    snprintf(testpath, sizeof(testpath), "%s/_icu_symlink_test", dir);
    if (symlink("/dev/null", testpath) != 0) return false;
    unlink(testpath);
    return true;
}

Prevention

Ensure the target directory is writable.
Verify the filesystem supports symlinks (not FAT32 or certain network mounts).
Confirm the versioned library file exists before the symlink step.

When it happens

Trigger: Called during non-static, non-Win32 packaging after archive creation, when versioning is enabled (!noVersion). On OS/390 it uses o->pdsbuild; on other Unix it uses noVersion flag. The symlink creation shell command (cd targetDir && rm major && ln -s version major) failed.

Common situations: Permission denied creating symlinks in the target directory; the versioned library file doesn't exist before symlinking; filesystem doesn't support symlinks (e.g. FAT32, some network mounts); running as a user without write permission.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of nodejs/node@1b2de5e052 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cfcb72dd4ab5a93f. Report an issue: GitHub.