Why am I getting fatal Invalid symlink .... Function not supported. error when initcloneing

This error occurs when git clone/init commands are run inside a Windows symlink target directory root and it's because of the incompatibility between how Windows and Unix symlinks work. There are two workarounds to fix this:

• Run the command at the symlink source. For instance if you have a Windows symlink from C:\dir1 -> C:\dir2, the command will fail under C:\dir2 but will work under C:\dir1

or

• Run the command one directory below the symlink target. Instead of C:\dir2, run it under C:\dir2\somedir