Copying folders with specific names (perhaps using ROBOCOPY)

[Jake R]

I have a server with a fairly complex folder structure that needs
certain folders copied to another location.

Essentially, there are many folders and subfolders all over the D:
drive. In most of the subfolders there is a folder called "Archive".
Inside these Archive folders is the data that I need to move to
another server.

Does ROBOCOPY have a way of copying only folders with certain names? I
know how to copy files using wildcards to only copy certain filenames.

I am hoping that the same folder structure would be duplicated on the
destination server.

I have tried the following command, but of course it did not work (I
do not think that wildcards are allowed in folder names):

c:>robocopy \\source\d$\apps\arch*\ \\destination\d$\apps /s /e /z /
ipg:100 /r:1 /w:2

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

You could do it with the batch file below. Please note this:
- The batch file will fail if your folder names include "poison" characters
such as &, %, ^, !, (, ).
- To activate the batch file, you must remove the word "echo" in
the robocopy line.

@echo off
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
set Source=D:\Source Folder\
set Target=\\server\share\dest folder\
dir /s /ad /b "%Source%*.*" | find /i "\archive" > c:\dir.txt

for /F "tokens=*" %%* in (c:\dir.txt) do (
set T1=%%*
call set T2=!T1:%Source%=%Target%!
echo robocopy /s "%%a" "!T2!" *.*
)

[anygaard]

I am trying to use this script, and am getting an error:

ERROR 2 (0x00000002) Accessing Source Directory C:\%a\
The system cannot find the file specified.

here is how I modified the script to my own use:

@echo off
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
set Source=C:\docume~1\
set Target=C:\profiles\
dir /s /ad /b "%Source%*.*" | find /i "\desktop" > c:\dir.txt

for /F "tokens=*" %%* in (c:\dir.txt) do (
set T1=%%*
call set T2=!T1:%Source%=%Target%!
robocopy /s "%%a" "!T2!" *.*
)

I copied it from here, and only changed the source, target, and what it is finding, took out the echo, and it is not working. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Give yourself some eyes: Replace the line
robocopy /s "%%a" "!T2!" *.*
with
echo robocopy /s "%%a" "!T2!" *.*
and you will see immediately what's going on. Hint: Have a
closer look at this line:
for /F "tokens=*" %%* in (c:\dir.txt) do (
and ask yourself what name you assigned to your loop variable,
i.e. the one preceded with %%.

[simmiol]

>I'm trying to use robocopy to migrate some workstation profiles, settings, >and data but keep also coping the IE temp files and other unwanted files on >the new machines. Is robocopy capable of copying just wanted files from >the profiles and send them to a backup folder on the destination PC?

[Pegasus [MVP]]

Yes, it is. Have a look at the robocopy help files to see how it's done. It
depends, of course, what you mean with "wanted files" . . .

[dkleeman]

Pegasus is not being very helpful in this post, and his original script was incorrect. Here is the corrected version:

@echo off
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
set Source=D:\Source Folder\
set Target=\\server\share\dest folder\
dir /s /ad /b "%Source%*.*" | find /i "\archive" > c:\dir.txt

for /F "tokens=*" %%a in (c:\dir.txt) do (
set T1=%%a
call set T2=!T1:%Source%=%Target%!
echo robocopy /s "%%a" "!T2!" *.*
)

He put an asterisk instead of an 'a' in two places, but used the 'a' correctly in the last line. This is what he meant by 'your loop variable'.

[illusionactor]

Is there a way to perform this copy using a wildcard in the Find command?

For example find all of the folders in the Source that have names beginning with "ABCD"?