Create a Windows Shortcut (.lnk) in Go

Using https://github.com/go-ole/go-ole:

func makeLink(src, dst string) error {
    ole.CoInitializeEx(0, ole.COINIT_APARTMENTTHREADED|ole.COINIT_SPEED_OVER_MEMORY)
    oleShellObject, err := oleutil.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
    if err != nil {
        return err
    }
    defer oleShellObject.Release()
    wshell, err := oleShellObject.QueryInterface(ole.IID_IDispatch)
    if err != nil {
        return err
    }
    defer wshell.Release()
    cs, err := oleutil.CallMethod(wshell, "CreateShortcut", dst)
    if err != nil {
        return err
    }
    idispatch := cs.ToIDispatch()
    oleutil.PutProperty(idispatch, "TargetPath", src)
    oleutil.CallMethod(idispatch, "Save")
    return nil
}

Solution via external program from this subject:

Shortcut executable from NirSoft

shortcut "f:\winnt\system32\calc.exe" "~$folder.desktop$" "Windows Calculator" 
shortcut "f:\winnt\system32\calc.exe" "~$folder.programs$\Calculators" "Windows Calculator" 
shortcut "f:\Program Files\KaZaA\Kazaa.exe" "c:\temp\MyShortcuts" "Kazaa" 
shortcut "f:\Program Files" "c:\temp\MyShortcuts" "Program Files Folder" "" "f:\winnt\system32\shell32.dll" 45 
shortcut "f:\Program Files" "c:\temp\MyShortcuts" "Program Files Folder" "" "" "" "max"

Shortcut executable from Optimumx

Shortcut.exe /f:"%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\sc.lnk" /a:c  /t:%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\scrum.pdf

.vbs

Set oWS = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
sLinkFile = "C:\MyShortcut.LNK"
Set oLink = oWS.CreateShortcut(sLinkFile)
    oLink.TargetPath = "C:\Program Files\MyApp\MyProgram.EXE"
 '  oLink.Arguments = ""
 '  oLink.Description = "MyProgram"   
 '  oLink.HotKey = "ALT+CTRL+F"
 '  oLink.IconLocation = "C:\Program Files\MyApp\MyProgram.EXE, 2"
 '  oLink.WindowStyle = "1"   
 '  oLink.WorkingDirectory = "C:\Program Files\MyApp"
oLink.Save

Powershell script

set TARGET='D:\Temp'
set SHORTCUT='C:\Temp\test.lnk'
set PWS=powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -NoLogo -NonInteractive -NoProfile

%PWS% -Command "$ws = New-Object -ComObject WScript.Shell; $s = $ws.CreateShortcut(%SHORTCUT%); $S.TargetPath = %TARGET%; $S.Save()"

No, there isn't any pretty method for creating .lnk file, in golang.

Primary reason is that, .lnk files are windows specific.

In Windows, even a native program need to use OLE (Object linking and embedding) and COM (component object model) to create a shortcut file, as described in this answer.

In my opinion, One way to approach this problem in golang is to use gowin, and try to communicate with OLE COM.

OR

Write a native windows component that does actual work of creating .lnk file, and just spawn its process through your go program.

Here is an alternative, if for any reason you don't want to use an external go package. As mentioned by Alexis Paques you can use Powershell to create shortcuts under Windows. The advantage is, that it's already available in virtually all Windows environments. Here is an implementation for creating a shortcut in the shell:startup folder, which will auto start the linked program for the current user on startup:

package main

import (
    "bytes"
    "log"
    "os/exec"
    "strings"
)

type PowerShell struct {
    powerShell string
}

var WIN_CREATE_SHORTCUT = `$WshShell = New-Object -comObject WScript.Shell
$Shortcut = $WshShell.CreateShortcut("$HOME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\MyAPP.lnk")
$Shortcut.TargetPath = "PLACEHOLDER"
$Shortcut.Save()`

// New create new session
func New() *PowerShell {
    ps, _ := exec.LookPath("powershell.exe")
    return &PowerShell{
        powerShell: ps,
    }
}

func (p *PowerShell) execute(args ...string) (stdOut string, stdErr string, err error) {
    args = append([]string{"-NoProfile", "-NonInteractive"}, args...)
    cmd := exec.Command(p.powerShell, args...)

    var stdout bytes.Buffer
    var stderr bytes.Buffer
    cmd.Stdout = &stdout
    cmd.Stderr = &stderr

    err = cmd.Run()
    stdOut, stdErr = stdout.String(), stderr.String()
    return
}

// enableAutostartWin creates a shortcut to MyAPP in the shell:startup folder
func enableAutostartWin() {
    ps := New()
    exec_path := "C:\\MyAPP.exe"
    WIN_CREATE_SHORTCUT = strings.Replace(WIN_CREATE_SHORTCUT, "PLACEHOLDER", exec_path, 1)
    stdOut, stdErr, err := ps.execute(WIN_CREATE_SHORTCUT)
    log.Printf("CreateShortcut:\nStdOut : '%s'\nStdErr: '%s'\nErr: %s",
        strings.TrimSpace(stdOut), stdErr, err)
}

This answer is based on this SO answer and this gist.