On a shared hosting package running the LAMP stack and PHP, with no shell access and PHP in safe mode (= exec() being disabled), with only FTP access, do I have a chance of creating a symbolic link somehow?
I just checked, I can't even use the sneaky workaround of inserting a cron job that executes the ln command.
Use the builtin symlink function. The following restrictions apply in safe mode:
Checks whether the files or directories being operated upon have the same UID (owner) as the script that is being executed. Checks whether the directory in which the script is operating has the same UID (owner) as the script that is being executed. (note: only the target is checked)
(quote from php.net)