arv-put boolean option --ignore-symlinks (defaults to true) means that arv-put will skip any symlink it encounters.

If this option is false, arv-put will follow the symlink and upload duplicated data, possibly with duplicate blocks in Keep.

Bug report from awz:

<awz> hi - I used arvput to upload a dataset that includes some symlinks.
<awz> It should be visible to admins:
<awz> https://workbench.qr1hi.arvadosapi.com/collections/qr1hi-o0j2j-25b5nkz7dt0qdu3
<awz> I inspected the manifest manually and see that it appears to have copied the bytes and made separate blocks.
<awz> It might have been cool if it had done something smarter.
<awz> Either don't follow symlinks at all or reuse the blocks.

Possible action item:  add --follow-symlinks/--no-follow-symlinks options to arv-put.