symlink-copying a directory hierarchy

Question

What\'s the simplest way on Linux to \"copy\" a directory hierarchy so that a new hierarchy of directories are created while all \"files\" are just symlinks pointing back to

Answer 1

cp -as /root/absolute/path/name dest_dir

will do what you want. Note that the source name must be an absolute path, it cannot be relative. Else, you'll get this error: "xyz-file: can make relative symbolic links only in current directory."

Also, be careful as to what you're copying: if dest_dir already exists, you'll have to do something like:

cp -as /root/absolute/path/name/* dest_dir/
cp -as /root/absolute/path/name/.* dest_dir/