I have a large folder with many sub directories and files. I am only interested to copy specific files from that large folder to a new folder along with the folder structure. I am using Powershell to achieve this goal. Right now I am interested to copy single file with folder structure. I will use a loop later on top of it once its done.
I can achieve this via coding in python or java but I have to run it on a remote server where I only have access to Powershell. I don't have much experience with Powershell.
I tried searching docs and internet and came up with the following two commands :
1) Copy-Item -Path LargeFolder\folder1\sub-folder1\file1.txt -Destination NewFolder\ -Recurse
2) Get-ChildItem -Path LargeFolder\folder1\sub-folder1\file1.txt | Copy-Item -Destination NewFolder\ -Recurse -Container
Both command copies only the file1.txt to the NewFolder without folder structure.
Output of both commands :
NewFolder
|- file1.txt
Expected Output :
NewFolder
|-folder1
|-sub-folder1
|-file1.txt
//or even this I don't mind an extra root folder
NewFolder
|-LargeFolder
|-folder1
|-sub-folder1
|-file1.txt
I am a bit lost here. How can I also retain the folder structure ?
2 Answers
You have to create the subfolder structure before you can copy the file to it:
$Destination = 'NewFolder'
$FileToCopy = 'LargeFolder\folder1\sub-folder1\file1.txt'
Get-Item $fileToCopy | Copy-Item -Destination {
$DestPath = Join-Path $Destination (( $_.DirectoryName -Split 'LargeFolder' )[-1] )
If ( ! ( Test-Path )) { mkdir $DestPath | out-null }
$DestPath
}
You can do this with Robocopy (with or without PowerShell involved at all) and or Copy-Item out of the box and all you need is in the help files:
Youtube - 'PowerShell copy-item'
Robocopy /?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROBOCOPY :: Robust File Copy for Windows
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Started : Wednesday, 26 August, 2020 08:40:06
Usage :: ROBOCOPY source destination [file [file]...] [options]
source :: Source Directory (drive:\path or \\server\share\path).
destination :: Destination Dir (drive:\path or \\server\share\path).
file :: File(s) to copy (names/wildcards: default is "*.*").
::
:: Copy options :
::
/S :: copy Subdirectories, but not empty ones.
/E :: copy subdirectories, including Empty ones.
/LEV:n :: only copy the top n LEVels of the source directory tree.
/Z :: copy files in restartable mode.
/B :: copy files in Backup mode.
/ZB :: use restartable mode; if access denied use Backup mode.
/J :: copy using unbuffered I/O (recommended for large files).
/EFSRAW :: copy all encrypted files in EFS RAW mode.
/COPY:copyflag[s] :: what to COPY for files (default is /COPY:DAT).
(copyflags : D=Data, A=Attributes, T=Timestamps, X=Skip alt data streams).
(S=Security=NTFS ACLs, O=Owner info, U=aUditing info).
/SEC :: copy files with SECurity (equivalent to /COPY:DATS).
/COPYALL :: COPY ALL file info (equivalent to /COPY:DATSOU).
/NOCOPY :: COPY NO file info (useful with /PURGE).
/SECFIX :: FIX file SECurity on all files, even skipped files.
/TIMFIX :: FIX file TIMes on all files, even skipped files.
/PURGE :: delete dest files/dirs that no longer exist in source.
/MIR :: MIRror a directory tree (equivalent to /E plus /PURGE).
...
Youtube 'PowerShell copy-item'
# Get specifics for a module, cmdlet, or function
(Get-Command -Name Copy-Item).Parameters
(Get-Command -Name Copy-Item).Parameters.Keys
# Results
<#
Path
LiteralPath
Destination
Container
Force
Filter
Include
Exclude
Recurse
PassThru
Credential
Verbose
Debug
ErrorAction
WarningAction
InformationAction
ErrorVariable
WarningVariable
InformationVariable
OutVariable
OutBuffer
PipelineVariable
WhatIf
Confirm
UseTransaction
FromSession
ToSession
#>
Get-help -Name Copy-Item -Examples
# Results
<#
Copy-Item "C:\Wabash\Logfiles\mar1604.log.txt" -Destination "C:\Presentation"
Copy-Item "C:\Logfiles" -Destination "C:\Drawings" -Recurse
Copy-Item C:\Logfiles -Destination C:\Drawings\Logs -Recurse
Copy-Item "\\Server01\Share\Get-Widget.ps1" -Destination "\\Server12\ScriptArchive\Get-Widget.ps1.txt"
$Session = New-PSSession -ComputerName "Server01" -Credential "Contoso\PattiFul"
Copy-Item "D:\Folder001\test.log" -Destination "C:\Folder001_Copy\" -ToSession $Session
$Session = New-PSSession -ComputerName "Server02" -Credential "Contoso\PattiFul"
Copy-Item "D:\Folder002\" -Destination "C:\Folder002_Copy\" -ToSession $Session
$Session = New-PSSession -ComputerName "Server04" -Credential "Contoso\PattiFul"
Copy-Item "D:\Folder003\" -Destination "C:\Folder003_Copy\" -ToSession $Session -Recurse
$Session = New-PSSession -ComputerName "Server04" -Credential "Contoso\PattiFul"
Copy-Item "D:\Folder004\scriptingexample.ps1" -Destination "C:\Folder004_Copy\scriptingexample_copy.ps1" -ToSession $Session
$Session = New-PSSession -ComputerName "Server01" -Credential "Contoso\PattiFul"
Copy-Item "C:\MyRemoteData\test.log" -Destination "D:\MyLocalData\" -FromSession $Session
$Session = New-PSSession -ComputerName "Server01" -Credential "Contoso\PattiFul"
Copy-Item "C:\MyRemoteData\scripts" -Destination "D:\MyLocalData\" -FromSession $Session
$Session = New-PSSession -ComputerName "Server01" -Credential "Contoso\PattiFul"
Copy-Item "C:\MyRemoteData\scripts" -Destination "D:\MyLocalData\scripts" -FromSession $Session
#>
Get-help -Name Copy-Item -Full
Get-help -Name Copy-Item -Online
