symlink for visual code in /usr/local/bin

[Jacek_ADC]

Hello

We have started to enroll our macbooks for our employees without adminrights. Yes we have the privilege access configured in jamf connect, but don't want use it for everyone :) 
So i started to configure what is necessary for our employees that they can work without adminrights.

So far so good. Now i am actually helpless with this one problem about creating a symlink via jamf pro policy after installation of Visual Studio code.

What i need is:

A symlink in the directory /usr/local/bin/code which points to /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin/code

So i am able to create it, but it isnt working. Checking it on a testmachine the symlink shows me in the "get info" as "Original" the path /usr/local/bin/code 

instead of

/Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin/code

So its not the first symlink i create but its the first in this location /usr/local/bin/code so maybe i am doing something wrong.

I am using this short script

#!/bin/bash

set -x

# Get the current user's home directory
loggedInUser=$(stat -f "%Su" /dev/console)
USER_HOME="/Users/$loggedInUser"

open -a /Applications/Visual\ Studio\ Code.app

# Set symlink
ln -snf "$USER_HOME/Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin/code" /usr/local/bin/code

exit 0

Running the command locally on a machine: 

ln -snf "/Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin/code" /usr/local/bin/code is working fine, but i am not able to do this via jamf policy and script

Somehow an idea what i am doing wrong here?

I appreciate for every tipp, suggestion and help

THX in Advance

J

[Jacek_ADC]

So it looks that i was able to create it, but can someone help me understand why the first script isnt working and the second is working?

#!/bin/bash

# Get the current user's home directory
loggedInUser=$(stat -f "%Su" /dev/console)
USER_HOME="/Users/$loggedInUser"

echo $USER_HOME
echo $loggedInUser

# Path to Visual Studio Code binary
VSCODE_BIN="/Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin/code"

# Target symlink location
TARGET_SYMLINK="/usr/local/bin/code"


# Create the symlink 
ln -snf "$VSCODE_BIN" "$TARGET_SYMLINK"
echo "Symlink created: $TARGET_SYMLINK -> $VSCODE_BIN"



exit 0

thank you in advance

[sdagley]

Your first script is trying to create a symlink to an app in /Users/{UserID}/Applications/... which isn't where the app was installed if the 2nd script works which links to an app in /Applications/...

[Jacek_ADC]

@sdagley I also tested a few other paths with the first script. 
So for example i commented out the loggedin user part and tested only with the 

ln -snf "/Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin/code" /usr/local/bin/code

sudo ln -snf "Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin/code" /usr/local/bin/code

ln -s"~/Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin/code" /usr/local/bin/code

I tested it with script and also only with the "files and processes" in a policy. 
So i dont know a lot about symlinks, but they seem not the be really complicated to create and if i follow the guide:

┌── ln(1) link, ln -- make links
│   ┌── Create a symbolic link.
│   │                         ┌── the optional path to the intended symlink
│   │                         │   if omitted, symlink is in . named as destination
│   │                         │   can use . or ~ or other relative paths
│   │                   ┌─────┴────────┐
ln -s /path/to/original /path/to/symlink
      └───────┬───────┘
              └── the path to the original file/folder
                  can use . or ~ or other relative paths

the command: 

ln -s "Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin/code" /usr/local/bin/code via a policy should work. 

From my understanding (but i am not very good in scripting) i am not do anything else with the second script as combine the absolut path with two variables. 

Please correct me if am wrong

BR

[Jacek_ADC · Accepted solution]

I got it, it was how i remembered from my jamf course. 
So the applications visible in the user Finder are not installed under user directory. They are all installed in /Applications

[sdagley]

Which is what I said in my previous post...