I realise this question seems to have been asked a thousand times before, and I've read most if not all the suggestions (most common being new ps-drive or using alphaFS). I just never see that suggestion actually put into code.
My program works fine the way I've coded it for now, with 1 exception being the too long path exception i run into once in a while.
While i start from a path that is not too long, i will recursively pass down the path length to find all files with a specific extension and move it around.
I'm just wondering how i can test get-childitem and start making a new temp ps drive without having the exception already.
the code: (part of it)
Get-ChildItem -Path $loc -File -Filter $extension -Recurse |
Where-Object { $_.FullName -inotmatch $folder_name } |
ForEach-Object {
if((Test-Path (Join-Path $Destination $_)) -eq $true) {
$tmp_name = "$($_.BaseName)$(Get-Date -Format "dd_MM_yyyy_hh_mm_ss")$($_.Extension)"
Rename-Item $_.FullName $tmp_name
Move-Item ((Split-Path -Path $_.FullName)+"\"+$tmp_name) -Destination $Destination -Verbose 4>>$Destination\$filename -Force;
}
else{$_ | Move-Item -Destination $Destination -Verbose >>$Destination\$filename -Force
}
}
This basically test if the file exists at the location I want to move it to, and if so will rename with current time in the name.
Now I want to implement the new ps-drive if the get-childitem path gets at 200 length. But according to me you can't filter before querying the path length and already run into the exception.
Or am I wrong?
Related
I am new to powershell and trying to learn a basic file move from one directory to another. My goal is to move files and folders that are over 18months old to cold storage folder run as a scheduled Task. I need to be able to easily modify it's directories to fit our needs. It needs to preserve the folder structure and only move files that fit the above parameters. I also need it to log everything it did so if something is off i know where.
If I run this it just copies everything. If I comment out the %{Copy-Item... then it runs and lists only based on my parameters and logs it. Where am I going wrong or am I way off base?
Yes it would be easy to use robocopy to do this but I want to use powershell and learn from it.
#Remove-Variable * -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue; Remove-Module *; $error.Clear();
#Clear-Host
#Days older than
$Days = "-485"
#Path Variables
$Sourcepath = "C:\Temp1"
$DestinationPath = "C:\Temp2"
#Logging
$Logfile = "c:\temp3\file_$((Get-Date).ToString('MM-dd-yyyy_hh-mm-ss')).log"
#transcript logs all outputs to txt file
Start-Transcript -Path $Logfile -Append
Get-ChildItem $Sourcepath -Force -Recurse |
Where-Object {$_.LastwriteTime -le (Get-Date).AddDays($Days)} |
% {Copy-Item -Path $Sourcepath -Destination $DestinationPath -Recurse -Force}
Stop-Transcript
Problem
Copy-Item -Path $Sourcepath -Destination $DestinationPath -Recurse -Force
You always specify the same path for source and destination. With parameter -recurse you will copy the whole directory $SourcePath for each matching file.
Solution
You need to feed the output of the previous pipeline steps to Copy-Item by using the $_ (aka $PSItem) variable, basically using Copy-Item in single-item mode.
Try this (requires .NET >= 5.0 for GetRelativePath method):
Get-ChildItem $Sourcepath -File -Force -Recurse |
Where-Object {$_.LastwriteTime -le (Get-Date).AddDays($Days)} |
ForEach-Object {
$relativeSourceFilePath = [IO.Path]::GetRelativePath( $sourcePath, $_.Fullname )
$destinationFilePath = Join-Path $destinationPath $relativeSourceFilePath
$destinationSubDirPath = Split-Path $destinationFilePath -Parent
# Need to create sub directory when using Copy-Item in single-item mode
$null = New-Item $destinationSubDirPath -ItemType Directory -Force
# Copy one file
Copy-Item -Path $_ -Destination $destinationFilePath -Force
}
Alternative implementation without GetRelativePath (for .NET < 5.0):
Push-Location $Sourcepath # Base path to use for Get-ChildItem and Resolve-Path
try {
Get-ChildItem . -File -Force -Recurse |
Where-Object {$_.LastwriteTime -le (Get-Date).AddDays($Days)} |
ForEach-Object {
$relativeSourceFilePath = Resolve-Path $_.Fullname -Relative
$destinationFilePath = Join-Path $destinationPath $relativeSourceFilePath
$destinationSubDirPath = Split-Path $destinationFilePath -Parent
# Need to create sub directory when using Copy-Item in single-item mode
$null = New-Item $destinationSubDirPath -ItemType Directory -Force
# Copy one file
Copy-Item -Path $_ -Destination $destinationFilePath -Force
}
}
finally {
Pop-Location # restore previous location
}
On a side note, $Days = "-485" should be replaced by $Days = -485.
You currently create a string instead of a number and rely on Powershell's ability to automagically convert string to number when "necessary". This doesn't always work though, so better create a variable with the appropriate datatype in the first place.
this is my first post on this forum. Im a beginner in coding and I need help with one of my very first self coded tools.
I made a small script, which deletes files based on if they are older than date x (lastwritetime). Now to my problem: I want the script also to check for files inside of folders inside of a directory and only delete a folder afterwards if it is truly empty. I cant figure out how to solve the recursion in this problem, seems like the script deletes just the entire folder in relation to the date x. Could anyone tell me please what I missed in this code and help me to create a own recursion to solve the problem or fix the code? Thanks to you all, guys! Here is my code:
I would be glad if someone knows how to make the code work by using a function
$path = Read-Host "please enter your path"
"
"
$timedel = Read-Host "Enter days in the past (e.g -12)"
$dateedit = (Get-Date).AddDays($timedel)
"
"
Get-ChildItem $path -File -Recurse | foreach{ if ($_.LastWriteTime -and !$_.LastAccessTimeUtc -le $dateedit) {
Write-Output "older as $timedel days: ($_)" } }
"
"
pause
Get-ChildItem -Path $path -Force -Recurse | Where-Object { $_.PsisContainer -and $_.LastWriteTime -le $dateedit } | Remove-Item -Force -Recurse
""
Write-Output "Files deleted"
param(
[IO.DirectoryInfo]$targetTolder = "d:\tmp",
[DateTime]$dateTimeX = "2020-11-15 00:00:00"
)
Get-ChildItem $targetTolder -Directory -Recurse | Sort-Object {$_.FullName} -Descending | ForEach-Object {
Get-ChildItem $_ -File | Where-Object {$_.LastWriteTime -lt $dateTimeX} | Remove-Item -Force
if ((Get-ChildItem $_).Count -eq 0){Remove-Item $_ -Force}
}
remove -WhatIf after test
To also remove folders that are older than the set days in the past if they are empty leaves you with the problem that as soon as a file is removed from such a folder, the LastWriteTime of the folder is set to that moment in time.
This means you should get a list of older folders first, before you start deleting older files and use that list afterwards to also remove these folders if they are empty.
Also, a minimal check on user input from Read-Host should be done. (i.e. the path must exist and the number of days must be convertable to an integer number. For the latter I chose to simply cast it to [int] because if that fails, the code would generate an execption anyway.
Try something like
$path = Read-Host "please enter your path"
# test the user input
if (-not (Test-Path -Path $path -PathType Container)) {
Write-Error "The path $path does not exist!"
}
else {
$timedel = Read-Host "Enter days in the past (e.g -12)"
# convert to int and make sure it is a negative value
$timedel = -[Math]::Abs([int]$timedel)
$dateedit = (Get-Date).AddDays($timedel).Date # .Date sets this date to midnight (00:00:00)
# get a list of all folders (FullNames only)that have a LastWriteTime older than the set date.
# we check this list later to see if any of the folders are empty and if so, delete them.
$folders = (Get-ChildItem -Path $path -Directory -Recurse | Where-Object { $_.LastWriteTime -le $dateedit }).FullName
# get a list of files to remove
Get-ChildItem -Path $path -File -Recurse | Where-Object { $_.LastWriteTime -le $dateedit} | ForEach-Object {
Write-Host "older as $timedel days: $($_.FullName)"
$_ | Remove-Item -Force -WhatIf # see below about the -WhatIf safety switch
}
# now that old files are gone, test the folder list we got earlier and remove any if empty
$folders | ForEach-Object {
if ((Get-ChildItem -Path $_ -Force).Count -eq 0) {
Write-Host "Deleting empty folder: $_"
$_ | Remove-Item -Force -WhatIf # see below about the -WhatIf safety switch
}
}
Write-Host "All Done!" -ForegroundColor Green
}
The -WhatIf switch used on Remove-Item is there for your own safety. With that, no file or folder is actually deleted, instead in the console it is written what would be deleted. If you are satisfied that this is all good, remove the -WhatIf and run the code again to really delete the files and folders
try something like this:
$timedel=-12
#remove old files
Get-ChildItem "C:\temp" -Recurse -File | Where LastWriteTime -lt (Get-Date).AddDays($timedel) | Remove-Item -Force
#remove directory without file
Get-ChildItem "C:\temp\" -Recurse -Directory | where {(Get-ChildItem $_.FullName -Recurse -File).count -eq 0} | Remove-Item -Force -recurse
I am trying to rename a file Members.csv.
Get-ChildItem ".\" -Filter '*Members*.csv' | where {
$_.LastWriteTime.GetDateTimeFormats()[44] -eq $today
} | Rename-Item -NewName "hello2.csv" -Force
-Force is not working. If hello2 exists already the renaming will not take place.
I found this thread saying that we have to use Move-Item. but I am not sure how to incorporate it in my code.
rename-item and override if filename exists
Get-ChildItem index.*.txt | ForEach-Object {
$NewName = $_.Name -replace "^(index\.)(.*)",'$2'
$Destination = Join-Path -Path $_.Directory.FullName -ChildPath $NewName
Move-Item -Path $_.FullName -Destination $Destination -Force
}
I am not trying to replace, I'm renaming the entire name so I don't know what to do for this part:
$NewName = $_.Name = "hello2"
The -Force parameter of Rename-Item does not allow you to replace an existing file by renaming another. From the documentation:
-Force
Forces the cmdlet to rename items that cannot otherwise be changed, such as hidden or read-only files or read-only aliases or variables. The cmdlet cannot change constant aliases or variables. Implementation varies from provider to provider. For more information, see about_Providers.
You need to use Move-Item -Force, as you already found out, and it's used in exactly the same way you're trying to use Rename-Item in your first code snippet:
Get-ChildItem -Filter '*Members*.csv' | Where-Object {
$_.LastWriteTime.GetDateTimeFormats()[44] -eq $today
} | Move-Item -Destination "hello2.csv" -Force
Beware that if after the Where-Object you have more than one item, each of them will replace the previous one, so you'll effectively end up removing all but one of them.
In PowerShell, I'm trying to use Move-Item to move all files containing the string "2017", located in $Source, to $MovieDst
The files that I want to move in $Source are individual .mkv files with the string "2017" in the filename, located at the root of $Source - they are not in a directory.
If I hash out Move-Item and un-hash Write-Host $NoDirMovie, it outputs the following:
ExampleFile.2017.mkv
ExampleFile2.2017.mkv
So, it definitely knows which are the correct files to be referencing. But as soon as I use Move-Item, it moves the entire $source directory into $MovieDst. I can't use -Exclude *COMPLETED_DOWNLOADS* as it includes the very files that I want to move.
So, I'm a bit stuck - It can't move my files, because it FIRST wants to move the entire directory containing them. Is there a way to stop it from moving the entire $Source directory, and JUST move only the contents of $Source that contain the string "2017" ?
$Source = "C:\TV Shows 7\COMPLETED_DOWNLOADS"
$MovieDst = "C:\TV Shows 7\COMPLETED DOWNLOADS_Sorted\MOVIES"
$NoDirMovies = dir $Source *2017*
foreach($NoDirMovie in $NoDirMovies | where {$_ -ne $Source})
{
Move-Item -Path $Source -Destination $MovieDst
#Write-Host $NoDirMovie
}
Why are you storing the files you want in $NoDirMovie, then passing $Source to Move-item?
Surely you want:
foreach($NoDirMovie in $NoDirMovies | where {$_ -ne $Source})
{
Move-Item -Path $NoDirMovie -Destination $MovieDst
#Write-Host $NoDirMovie
}
Edit
That's a simple fix, which I haven't tried. A few things:
dir is an alias for the built-in PowerShell Cmdlet Get-ChildItem
Your loop Where is illogical. $NoDirMovies are files in directory $Source, so they will never equal $Source (assume this was an attempt to not copy directory?)
Worth checking if the directory you are trying to copy to exists.
V2 (I tried this one)
$Source = "C:\TV Shows 7\COMPLETED_DOWNLOADS"
$MovieDst = "C:\TV Shows 7\COMPLETED DOWNLOADS_Sorted\MOVIES"
$filter = "2017"
If(!(Test-Path $MovieDst)){
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $MovieDst
}
foreach($file in (Get-ChildItem $Source | Where-object {$_.Name -match $filter})){
Move-Item -Path $file.FullName -Destination $MovieDst
}
IMHO your approach is overcomplicated. Move-Item accepts piped input, so
$Source = "C:\TV Shows 7\COMPLETED_DOWNLOADS"
$MovieDst = "C:\TV Shows 7\COMPLETED DOWNLOADS_Sorted\MOVIES\"
Get-ChildItem -Path $Source -Filter "*2017*.mkv" |Where {!($_.PSIsContainer)}
Move-Item -Destination $MovieDst -WhatIf
If the outpout looks OK, remove the -WhatIf
I'm thinning out my backup files with a powershell script, and I know I have the correct filenames, but for some reason when I use remove-item, the item doesn't get removed and no exception is thrown. This is what it looks like:
try{
$Drive = "E:\temp\"
$deleteTime = -42
$limit = (Get-Date).AddDays($deleteTime) #files older than 6 weeks
#get files in folder older than deleteTime and with signature of *junk.vhd* (to be changed later)
$temp1 = Get-ChildItem -Path $Drive -filter "*junk.vhd*" | Where-Object {$_.LastWriteTime -lt $limit} | Select -Expand Name #this has 5 files in list
#will delete every other file
for($i=$temp1.GetLowerBound(0);$i -le $temp1.GetUpperBound(0);$i+=2) {
$name = $temp1[$i]
Write-Host "removing $name" #prints correct file names to screen
Get-ChildItem -Path $Drive -include $name | Remove-Item -recurse -force #this is handling correct files but they aren't deleted for some reason
}
}#try
Catch [Exception] {
#nothing is caught
Write-Host "here"
}
Does anyone have any ideas why it's finding and Write-Host the correct filenames to remove, but the Remove-Item isn't removing them?
I was looking at removal a little different example, but everything looks good.
try to replace this line:
Get-ChildItem -Path $Drive -include $name | Remove-Item -recurse -force #this is handling correct files but they aren't deleted for some reason
with this:
Remove-Item $temp1[i].FullName -force -recurse
Since you already got the full patrh to the file, I don't feel it's necessary to call Get-ChilItem again and pass it through the pipeline, instead you just feed Remove-Item with the FUllName property which is the full path to thew file.