Operating Systems

How to Copy, Move, Replicate, Augment or Delete Files and Folders using Commands on Windows

Leave a comment

Motivation:

  • You have a web application the backup of which needs to be  created daily.
  • You have a web application the content of which needs to be replicated daily.
  • You have data folder the content of which needs to be augmented daily.

Commands:

  • Copying files and folders inside one folder to another:
robocopy E:\inetpub\wwwroot\website.domain.com E:\inetpub\wwwroot\backup.domain.com /e

/e Copies subdirectories. This option includes empty directories. 

robocopy \\192.168.1.49\E\inetpub E:\inetpub /e
  • Moving entire folder to another location:
PS C:\> Move-Item -path \\192.168.1.15\e\inetpub\ -destination E:\ -force

where PS C:\> is PowerShell.
  • Moving new files and folders inside one folder to another:
robocopy E:\inetpub\wwwroot\website.domain.com E:\inetpub\wwwroot\archive.domain.com /move /e

/move Moves files and directories, and deletes them from the source after they are copied.
  • Copying (mirroring) entire data from one drive to another, including file and folder permissions:
robocopy E:\ G:\ /MIR /COPYALL /ZB /W:1 /R:2 /XO

or

robocopy E:\ G:\ /TEE /LOG+:F:\robolog.txt /MIR /COPYALL /ZB /W:1 /R:2 /XO

E:\
 - Source folder. This can be a UNC path.

G:\
 - Destination folder. This can be a UNC path.

/TEE
 - Display the output of the command in the console window and write it to a log file.

/LOG+:F:\robolog.txt
 - Write the logs to F:\robolog.txt. The + sign means appending the content to the log file.

/MIR
 - Copy all files and subfolders, remove files and folders from the destination if they no longer exist on the source.

/COPYALL
 - Copy all of the NTFS permissions and attributes (security permissions, timestamps, owner info, etc.)

/ZB
 - Use restartable mode when copying files. If a file is in use, retry after a set amount of time (see /W:1 and /R:2). If access is denied then try to copy in backup mode.

/W:1
 - Wait for 1 second between retries when copying files.

/R:2
 - The number of retries on failed copies.

/XO
 - eXclude Older files/folders if the destination file or folder exists and has the same date.
If destination file exists and is the same date or newer than the source - don't bother to overwrite it.
  • Augmenting files and folders (making an incremental backup) from one drive to another, including file and folder permissions:
robocopy E:\ G:\ /E /COPYALL /ZB /W:1 /R:2 /XO /XX

or

robocopy E:\ G:\ /TEE /LOG+:F:\robolog2.txt /E /COPYALL /ZB /W:1 /R:2 /XO /XX

/E
 - Copy Subfolders, including Empty Subfolders.

/XX
 - eXclude "eXtra" files and dirs (present in destination but not source). This will prevent any deletions from the destination.
  • Granting Full control to a user or group:
icacls "E:\inetpub\wwwroot\website.domain.com\App_Data" /grant "IUSR":(OI)(CI)F /T

icacls "E:\inetpub\wwwroot\website.domain.com\App_Data" /grant "IIS_IUSRS":(OI)(CI)F /T

CI
 - Container Inherit - This flag indicates that subordinate containers will inherit this ACE (access control entry).

OI
 - Object Inherit - This flag indicates that subordinate files will inherit the ACE.

OI and CI only apply to new files and sub-folders).

F
 - Full Control

/T
 - Apply recursively to existing files and sub-folders.
  • Deleting and creating a folder:
rmdir "E:\inetpub\wwwroot\website.domain.com\Temp\" /S /Q 
mkdir "E:\inetpub\wwwroot\website.domain.com\Temp\
  • Recursively deleting all files in a folder and all files in its sub-folders:
cd C:\inetpub\wwwroot

del /s *.log /s
 - delete all the files in the sub-folders.


del /s /f /q *.* /f
 - force deletion of read-only files.

/q
 - do not ask to confirm when deleting via wildcard.
  • Recursively deleting a folder, its files and its sub-folders:
rmdir .\force-app\main\default\objects /s /q /s
 - delete all the files in the sub-folders.
  • Enabling long paths and file names: For Windows 10, Version 1607, and Later: Open Group Policy (gpedit.msc) and go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Filesystem. Set “Enabling Win32 long paths” to “Enabled“. Restart the machine. Then use command below:
PS C:\> Move-Item -path \\?\UNC\192.168.101.157\e\Files\ -destination \\?\E:\ -force
  • Removing a drive letter from a volume:
mountvol F: /D

/D
- remove the drive letter from the selected volume.
(Visited 74 times, 1 visits today)

Leave a Reply