Help with a script to copy the contents of multiple folders to similarly named folders on another drive.

I'm not sure what kind of restriction you're referring to, but I'll help write the script.  I'll need the source and target folder structure.

I am not familiar with Sharepoint and IDK if there are differences but... since you already have drive letters, have you tried XCOPY or ROBOCOPY in a CMD prompt? e.g.

xcopy "y:\folder" "z:\folder\" /e /y /i

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or...

robocopy "y:\folder" "z:\folder\" /e

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With the text file...
Note: Remove the ECHO to run for real.

for /f "tokens=*" %a in (textfile.txt) do ECHO xcopy "y:\%a" "z:\%a\" /e /y /i

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There are a million and one ways to do this and if you gave an example of the source and destination directories it would be helpful

i.e. create a csv

source,destination
x:\mysource\a,z:\abc\a
\\server99\share100\b,z:\abc\b

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$paths = import-csv csvname.csv
foreach($path in $paths){ Copy-Item -Path $path.source -Destination $path.destination –Recurse }

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or a oneliner

import-csv csvname.csv | % { copy-item $_.source $_destination -recurse }

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OK I have a file called "folderlist.csv" which when opened in excel has one column of data. A header row containing "Library Name" and then a list of 100 library names below it. This is the file I used to create the libraries in Sharepoint.

In the t:\ drive is all the folders which match the libraries in sharepoint and is the source of all the files.

The s:\ drive is connected directly to the sharepoint site, so I see the same folder structure in there. This is the destination.

Does that help?

Adjusting my original post...
- Make a .bat file of this code.
- Set the right side of CopyFolders to the folder that folderlist.csv resides. I used c:\utils
- Open a CMD windows to run the .bat
- This code is in debug mode, which just echos the command that would run. Remove the ECHO to run for real
- In your folderlist.csv, you should put just 1 or 2 lines to test it. When satisfied, remove the ECHO. Then run the .bat again. This time, it should copy for real. If that works, remove the folders just copied from the .csv. Then add the remaining folders to the .csv. Then do the final run.

@echo off
set CopyFolders=c:\utils\folderlist.csv
for /f "tokens=* skip=1" %%a in (%CopyFolders%) do ECHO xcopy "t:\%%a" "s:\%%a\" /e /y /i

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If you encounter errors in the CMD window during the run, please post exact text here.

OK NVIT I have done as you suggested and get the following errors. I presume it is trying to create the folders on the destination drive. These folders have already been created so I presume this is why I get this error.

How do I amend the batch file to take into account the folder structure is already in place. Note that the top level folder does contain sub folders along with files.

C:\Users\Lisa\Desktop>copy.bat
File creation error - The directory is not empty.

Unable to create directory - V:\Letters
0 File(s) copied
File creation error - The directory is not empty.

Unable to create directory - V:\linked in
0 File(s) copied
File creation error - The directory is not empty.

Unable to create directory - V:\Literature
0 File(s) copied

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Please post your code.

Did you run it with the ECHO xcopy as a test? If so, did that show the folder names correctly?

For now, remove the top @echo off line. You can add it back later
Run again and post text here.

My code (including xcopy, the output of which I posted in my previous post) is :

@echo off
set CopyFolders=c:\ed\folderlist2.csv
for /f "tokens=* skip=1" %%a in (%CopyFolders%) do xcopy "t:\%%a" "v:\%%a\" /e /y /i

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The folders listed in the output looks correct to me.

Without the @echo off the output is:

C:\Users\Lisa\Desktop>copy.bat

C:\Users\Lisa\Desktop>set CopyFolders=c:\ed\folderlist2.csv

C:\Users\Lisa\Desktop>for /F "tokens=* skip=1" %a in (c:\ed\folderlist2.csv) do
xcopy "t:\%a" "v:\%a\" /e /y /i

C:\Users\Lisa\Desktop>xcopy "t:\Letters" "v:\Letters\" /e /y /i
File creation error - The directory is not empty.

Unable to create directory - V:\Letters
0 File(s) copied

C:\Users\Lisa\Desktop>xcopy "t:\linked in" "v:\linked in\" /e /y /i
File creation error - The directory is not empty.

Unable to create directory - V:\linked in
0 File(s) copied

C:\Users\Lisa\Desktop>xcopy "t:\Literature" "v:\Literature\" /e /y /i
File creation error - The directory is not empty.

Unable to create directory - V:\Literature
0 File(s) copied

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Any more feedback?

remove the /i parameter

OK Thanks for the advice so far.

I have been getting an "invalid drive specification". After some research I have discovered that xcopy doesnt like drive letters.

I have therefore amended the script as below:

set CopyFolders=c:\ed\folderlist2.csv
for /f "tokens=* skip=1" %%a in (%CopyFolders%) do xcopy "\\localhost\shared\%%a" "\\companyname.sharepoint.com@SSL\DavWWWRoot\%%a" /e /y /i

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I am now getting an error that it cannot create the directories in the destination. I imagine that the script is trying to create folders listed in my .csv file before copying over any sub-folder/files.

As the destination already contains the folders ( they are actually sharepoint libraries) I want my script to copy the contents of the folders over without trying to recreate each top level folder first.

How do I achieve this?

OK I sussed it. Just add a  \* to the end of each path.

So here's what worked for me:

set CopyFolders=c:\ed\folderlist2.csv
for /f "tokens=* skip=1" %%a in (%CopyFolders%) do xcopy "\\localhost\shared\%%a\*" "\\companyname.sharepoint.com@SSL\DavWWWRoot\%%a\*" /e /y /i

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The final question is how can I create a log file of the whole process so I can check for errors after it has run?

OK I will give that a try. Also currently the script stops when it encounters an error. How do i make it skip any errors whilst adding entries to the log?

It should continue during errors. Still, when it errors, please post it.

Yes my mistake it does skip errors. I havent had any yet but it tells me there were no errors after copying each folder.

I am now running it against the whole list of folders and it seems to be working really well.

I will report back with the outcome.

OK. Any errors should log to file c:\ed\copylog.txt

Great. That works perfectly.

Thanks for the help.

I'm glad for the chance. Have a nice day.