Installation or upgrade fails with "Too many levels of symbolic links" error

Products

• CA Automic Applications Manager (AM)

Issue/Introduction

Installing or upgrading Applications Manager fails with the below error which is seen in the awinstall.log.

Error Message :
Too many levels of symbolic links

Environment

CA Automic Applications Manager

Cause

Too many levels of symbolic links" error is an OS specific error that occurs when a file is symlinked to its own path value creating a loop in the link such a file being linked to itself. Files are created in the install directory during the installation/upgrade process that are symlinked to files in the installation media directory. In Applications Manager, this error can occur if the installation media directory exists inside the install directory ($AW_HOME).

Installation media directory is a sub-directory in the install directory.

Resolution

Move the installation media directory outside the install directory ($AW_HOME) and rerun the install/upgrade.