Windows – Cygwin to execute windows shortcut files (.LNK)

cygwin;shortcutswindowswindows 8

I use Cygwin as my cmd replacement on Windows and I am in the process of cleaning up my system PATH variable.

I now have a folder containing exe's and shortcuts (.LNK) files which is in PATH containing all the small apps and software I use from the command line.

Everything works through CMD, however the shortcuts, .LNK files, do not work through Cygwin.
Instead I get

bash: /cygdrive/e/Apps/uniserver.lnk: cannot execute binary file

My only guess is because it thinks .lnk is supposed to be a symlink?

Is there anyway to get Cygwin to launch the shortcut?

Best Answer

You can execute Windows LNK files from Cygwin using the cygstart utility, part of cygutils package, as follows:

cygstart [OPTION]... FILE [ARGUMENTS]

See cygstart --help for the options available.

The following should be enough in your case:

cygstart /cygdrive/e/Apps/uniserver.lnk

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