Check Modify Age of 100k files --> PathTooLongException - powershell

Question

currently I am working on a script that should give me the number of files that have been modified in the last 30 days or between 30 and 180 days or that have not been modified for 180 days. So three queries in total, everything gets its own variable in which the count is stored.
The whole thing should be executed on several remote servers.
However, the folder structure on these servers is very deep and PowerShell regularly hits the 260 character limit (PathTooLongException).
The following is the script:
$servers = "server1", "server2"
$folder = "\Path\to\folder\"
foreach ($server in $servers) {
$session = New-PSSession -ComputerName $server
$folder_30 = Invoke-Command -Session $session -ScriptBlock {
(Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath $using:folder -Recurse -File | where{$_.LastWriteTime -ge (Get-Date).AddDays(-30)}).count
}
$folder_30_180 = Invoke-Command -Session $session -ScriptBlock {
(Get-Childitem -LiteralPath $using:folder -Recurse -File | where{$_.LastWriteTime -ge (Get-Date).AddDays(-180) -AND $_.LastWriteTime -lt (Get-Date).AddDays(-30)}).count
}
$folder_180 = Invoke-Command -Session $session -ScriptBlock {
(Get-Childitem -LiteralPath $using:folder -Recurse -File | where{$_.LastWriteTime -lt (Get-Date).AddDays(-180)}).count
}
Remove-PSSession $session
}
Is there a way to change the script so that the "PathTooLongException" error no longer occurs? Would it be an option to change the script so that it first jumps to the lower levels and only then executes the "Get-ChildItem" and count cmdlt and how would I do that? Or is there a more elegant solution?
Thanks in advance :)
Edit: the remote servers are running win server 2012
Edit 2: I found a solution which is not perfect and takes like twice as long, but I can avoid the PathTooLongException;
You can use the following code snippet:
Get-Childitem -LiteralPath \\?\UNC\SERVERNAME\folder\
This didn't work with the Invoke-Command on the remote servers because they are running an old PowerShell version, but I was able to use this command and remotely connect from a Win 2016. Not perfect, but it works ¯_(ツ)_/¯
This link helped me: https://c-nergy.be/blog/?p=15339

Answer 1

You could probably do faster using Robocopy.
Suppose the local path on each server is 'C:\Somewhere\folder', then for each server you need to use the UNC path \\servername\C$\Somewhere\folder.
The easiest way of doing that is to create a template folder path where only the servername needs to be inserted:
$servers = "server1", "server2"
$folder = '\\{0}\C$\Somewhere\folder' # template UNC path whwere te servername or IP is inserted
foreach ($server in $servers) {
$path = $folder -f $server
$allFiles = #((robocopy $path NULL /L /E /NP /XJ /NC /NS /NDL /NJH /NJS /TS /R:0 /W:0) -replace '^\s+' -ne '' |
Select-Object #{Name = 'LastWriteTime'; Expression = {([datetime]($_ -split "`t")[0]).ToLocalTime()}},
#{Name = 'FullName'; Expression = {($_ -split "`t")[1]}})
# get the number of files newer than 30 days ago
$date = (Get-Date).AddDays(-30).Date
$folder_30 = ($allFiles | Where-Object { $_.LastWriteTime -ge $date }).Count
# get the number of files older than 180 days ago
$date = (Get-Date).AddDays(-180).Date
$folder_180 = ($allFiles | Where-Object { $_.LastWriteTime -lt $date }).Count
# output an object with the properties needed
[PsCustomObject]#{
ComputerName = $env:COMPUTERNAME
Path = $path
AllFiles = $allFiles.Count
NewerThan30Days = $folder_30
OlderThan180Days = $folder_180
Between30And180Days = $allFiles.Count - $folder_30 - $folder_180
}
}