python setup.py sdist error: Operation not permitted

Question

I'm trying to create a python source package, but it fails when creating hard links for files.

$ python setup.py sdist

running sdist
running check
reading manifest template 'MANIFEST.in'
writing manifest file 'MANIFEST'
making hard links in foo-0.1...
hard linking README.txt -> foo-0.1
error: Operation not permitted

I've tried running the command with sudo, but it produces the same error.

This also produces the same error:

ln foo bar

I'm using vbox to run a virtual instance of ubuntu, which is probably where the problem comes from. Is there a way round using hard links when creating source distributions?

System information:

Ubuntu server 11.04; VirtualBox 4.14; osx 10.6.6; python 2.7.1;

Answer 1

Same issue. I am using vagrant, my host OS is Windows while the Gust OS is Ubuntu. I am not a vim fan, so @simo's answer does not help me much because I really rely on virtual box shared folders to sync changes made by sublime editor to the Ubuntu virtual machine.

Thanks to Fabian Kochem, he found a quick and dirty workaround: post

# if you are not using vagrant, just delete os.link directly,
# The hard link only saves a little disk space, so you should not care
if os.environ.get('USER','') == 'vagrant':
    del os.link