Robust File and Folder Copy
By default Robocopy will copy only a file if the source and the destination have a different timestamp or have different sizes.
Syntaxe
ROBOCOPY source_folder destination_folder [file(s)_to_copy] [options]
Key
file(s)_to_copy : A list of files or a wildcard.
(defaults to copying *.*) Source options
/S : Copy Subfolders.
/E : Copy Subfolders, including Empty Subfolders.
/COPY:copyflag[s] : What to COPY (default is /COPY:DAT)
(copyflags : D=Data, A=Attributes, T=Timestamps
S=Security=NTFS ACLs, O=Owner info, U=aUditing info).
/SEC : Copy files with SECurity (equivalent to /COPY:DATS).
/DCOPY:T : Copy Directory Timestamps. ##
/COPYALL : Copy ALL file info (equivalent to /COPY:DATSOU).
/NOCOPY : Copy NO file info (useful with /PURGE).
/A : Copy only files with the Archive attribute set.
/M : like /A, but remove Archive attribute from source files.
/LEV:n : Only copy the top n LEVels of the source tree.
/MAXAGE:n : MAXimum file AGE - exclude files older than n days/date.
/MINAGE:n : MINimum file AGE - exclude files newer than n days/date.
(If n < 1900 then n = no of days, else n = YYYYMMDD date).
/FFT : Assume FAT File Times (2-second date/time granularity).
/256 : Turn off very long path (> 256 characters) support.
Copy options
/L : List only - don't copy, timestamp or delete any files.
/MOV : MOVe files (delete from source after copying).
/MOVE : Move files and dirs (delete from source after copying).
/Z : Copy files in restartable mode (survive network glitch).
/B : Copy files in Backup mode.
/ZB : Use restartable mode; if access denied use Backup mode.
/IPG:n : Inter-Packet Gap (ms), to free bandwidth on slow lines.
/R:n : Number of Retries on failed copies - default is 1 million.
/W:n : Wait time between retries - default is 30 seconds.
/REG : Save /R:n and /W:n in the Registry as default settings.
/TBD : Wait for sharenames To Be Defined (retry error 67).
Destination options
/A+:[RASHCNET] : Set file Attribute(s) on destination files + add.
/A-:[RASHCNET] : UnSet file Attribute(s) on destination files - remove.
/FAT : Create destination files using 8.3 FAT file names only.
/CREATE : CREATE directory tree structure + zero-length files only.
/DST : Compensate for one-hour DST time differences ##
/PURGE : Delete dest files/folders that no longer exist in source.
/MIR : MIRror a directory tree - equivalent to /PURGE plus all subfolders (/E)
Logging options
/L : List only - don't copy, timestamp or delete any files.
/NP : No Progress - don't display % copied.
/LOG:file : Output status to LOG file (overwrite existing log).
/LOG+:file : Output status to LOG file (append to existing log).
UNILOG and UNILOG+ will output to a unicode logfile ##
/TS : Include Source file Time Stamps in the output.
/FP : Include Full Pathname of files in the output.
/NS : No Size - don't log file sizes.
/NC : No Class - don't log file classes.
/NFL : No File List - don't log file names.
/NDL : No Directory List - don't log directory names.
/TEE : Output to console window, as well as the log file.
/NJH : No Job Header.
/NJS : No Job Summary.
Repeated Copy Options
/MON:n : MONitor source; run again when more than n changes seen.
/MOT:m : MOnitor source; run again in m minutes Time, if changed.
/RH:hhmm-hhmm : Run Hours - times when new copies may be started.
/PF : Check run hours on a Per File (not per pass) basis.
Job Options /JOB:jobname : Take parameters from the named JOB file.
/SAVE:jobname : SAVE parameters to the named job file
/QUIT : QUIT after processing command line (to view parameters).
/NOSD : NO Source Directory is specified.
/NODD : NO Destination Directory is specified.
/IF : Include the following Files.
Advanced options you'll probably never use
/EFSRAW : Copy any encrypted files using EFS RAW mode.##
/MT[:n] : Multithreaded copying, n = no. of threads to use (1-128) ###
default = 8 threads, not compatible with /IPG and /EFSRAW
The use of /LOG is recommended for better performance.
/SECFIX : FIX file SECurity on all files, even skipped files.
/TIMFIX : FIX file TIMes on all files, even skipped files.
/XO : eXclude Older - if destination file exists and is the same date
or newer than the source - don't bother to overwrite it.
/XC | /XN : eXclude Changed | Newer files
/XX | /XL : eXclude eXtra | Lonely files and dirs.
An "extra" file is present in destination but not source,
excluding extras will delete from destination.
A "lonely" file is present in source but not destination
excluding lonely will prevent any new files being added to the destination.
/XF file [file]... : eXclude Files matching given names/paths/wildcards.
/XD dirs [dirs]... : eXclude Directories matching given names/paths.
XF and XD can be used in combination e.g.
ROBOCOPY c:\source d:\dest /XF *.doc *.xls /XD c:\unwanted /S
/IA:[RASHCNETO] : Include files with any of the given Attributes
/XA:[RASHCNETO] : eXclude files with any of the given Attributes
/IS : Include Same, overwrite files even if they are already the same.
/IT : Include Tweaked files.
/XJ : eXclude Junction points. (normally included by default).
/MAX:n : MAXimum file size - exclude files bigger than n bytes.
/MIN:n : MINimum file size - exclude files smaller than n bytes.
/MAXLAD:n : MAXimum Last Access Date - exclude files unused since n.
/MINLAD:n : MINimum Last Access Date - exclude files used since n.
(If n < 1900 then n = n days, else n = YYYYMMDD date).
/BYTES : Print sizes as bytes.
/X : Report all eXtra files, not just those selected & copied.
/V : Produce Verbose output log, showing skipped files.
/ETA : Show Estimated Time of Arrival of copied files.
## = New Option in Vista (XP027) all other options on this page are for the XP version of Robocopy (XP010)
### = New Option in Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2
Robocopy EXIT CODES
The return code from Robocopy is a bit map, defined as follows:
Hex Decimal Meaning if set
0×10 16 Serious error. Robocopy did not copy any files.
Either a usage error or an error due to insufficient access privileges
on the source or destination directories.
0×08 8 Some files or directories could not be copied
(copy errors occurred and the retry limit was exceeded).
Check these errors further.
0×04 4 Some Mismatched files or directories were detected.
Examine the output log. Some housekeeping may be needed.
0×02 2 Some Extra files or directories were detected.
Examine the output log for details.
0×01 1 One or more files were copied successfully (that is, new files have arrived).
0×00 0 No errors occurred, and no copying was done.
The source and destination directory trees are completely synchronized.
You can use this in a batch file to report anomalies, as follows:
if errorlevel 16 echo ***FATAL ERROR*** & goto end
if errorlevel 15 echo OKCOPY + FAIL + MISMATCHES + XTRA & goto end
if errorlevel 14 echo FAIL + MISMATCHES + XTRA & goto end
if errorlevel 13 echo OKCOPY + FAIL + MISMATCHES & goto end
if errorlevel 12 echo FAIL + MISMATCHES& goto end
if errorlevel 11 echo OKCOPY + FAIL + XTRA & goto end
if errorlevel 10 echo FAIL + XTRA & goto end
if errorlevel 9 echo OKCOPY + FAIL & goto end
if errorlevel 8 echo FAIL & goto end
if errorlevel 7 echo OKCOPY + MISMATCHES + XTRA & goto end
if errorlevel 6 echo MISMATCHES + XTRA & goto end
if errorlevel 5 echo OKCOPY + MISMATCHES & goto end
if errorlevel 4 echo MISMATCHES & goto end
if errorlevel 3 echo OKCOPY + XTRA & goto end
if errorlevel 2 echo XTRA & goto end
if errorlevel 1 echo OKCOPY & goto end
if errorlevel 0 echo No Change & goto end
:end
Exemples :
Copy files from one server to another
ROBOCOPY \\Server1\reports \\Server2\backup *.* if errorlevel 8 GOTO sub_fail if errorlevel 4 GOTO sub_housekeeping if errorlevel 1 GOTO :eof goto :eof :sub_fail echo Something failed & goto :eof :sub_housekeeping echo Some housekeeping may be needed! & goto :eof
Bugs
Version XP026 returns a success errorlevel even when it fails.
Related:
Robocopy – Robust File and Folder Copy
Copy Open files – with VShadow.exe (Shadow copies)
Equivalent bash command: rsync – Remote file copy (Synchronize file trees)
File Attributes [RASHCNETO]
R – Read only A – Archive S – System H – Hidden C – Compressed N – Not content indexed E – Encrypted T – Temporary O - Offline
If either the source or desination are a “quoted long foldername” do not include a trailing backslash as this will be treated as an escape character, i.e. “C:\some path\” will fail but “C:\some path\\” or “C:\some path\.” or “C:\some path” will work.
Robocopy will fail to copy files that are ‘locked’ by other users or applications, limiting the number of retries with /R:0 will speed up large jobs.
By copying only the files that have changed, robocopy can be used to backup very large volumes.
To limit the network bandwidth used by robocopy, specify the Inter-Packet Gap parameter /IPG:n
This will send packets of 64 KB each followed by a delay of n Milliseconds.
ROBOCOPY will accept UNC pathnames including UNC pathnames over 256 characters long.
/REG Writes to the registry at HKCU\Software\Microsoft\ResKit\Robocopy
/B (backup mode) will allow Robocopy to override file and folder permission settings (ACLs).
All versions of Robocopy will copy security information (ACLs) for directories, version XP010 will not copy file security changes unless the file itself has also changed, this greatly improves performance.
To run ROBOCOPY under a non-administrator account will require backup files privilege, to copy security information auditing privilege is also required, plus of course you need at least read access to the files and folders.
The Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools include Robocopy XP010, this can be run on NT 4/ Windows 2000. Robocopy does not run on Windows 95, or NT 3.5. (RoboCopy is a Unicode application).
Robocopy ‘Jobs’ and the ‘MOnitor source’ option provide an alternative to setting up a Scheduled Task to run a batchfile with a RoboCopy command.
Examples:
Copy files from one server to another (and automatically avoid files which are already in the destination)
ROBOCOPY \\Server1\reports \\Server2\backup *.doc /S
List the files which seize more than 32 MBytes :
ROBOCOPY C:\work /MAX:33554432 /L
Move the files older than 14 days (the MOVE option will fail if one of the files is opened or locked)
ROBOCOPY C:\work C:\destination /move /minage:14
Bakcup of a server
The following script will copy the data from FileServ1 to FileServ2. The destination will be a mirror with the sames permissions (/SEC). When this script is used regularly for syncing a source and a destination together, robocopy will copy only the files which have been modified since the last execution of the script (because of the timestamp or of the size of the file).
@ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL
SET _source=\\FileServ1\e$\users
SET _dest=\\FileServ2\e$\BackupUsers
SET _what=/COPYALL /B /SEC /MIR
:: /COPYALL :: COPY ALL file info
:: /B :: copy files in Backup mode.
:: /SEC :: copy files with SECurity
:: /MIR :: MIRror a directory tree
SET _options=/R:0 /W:0 /LOG:MyLogfile.txt /NFL /NDL
:: /R:n :: number of Retries
:: /W:n :: Wait time between retries
:: /LOG :: Output log file
:: /NFL :: No file logging
:: /NDL :: No dir logging
ROBOCOPY %_source% %_dest% %_what% %_options%
Execute two robocopy at the same time with START /Min
Start /Min "Job one" Robocopy \\FileServA\C$\Database1 \\FileServeBackupA\c$\Backups Start /Min "Job two" Robocopy \\FileServB\C$\Database2 \\FileServeBackupB\c$\Backups
Bugs
Version XP026 returns a success errorlevel even when it fails.
Related:
Robocopy EXIT CODES
COPY – Copy one or more files to another location
Robocopy GUI – Technet magazine (installs Robocopy XP026)
RichCopy free GUI copy utility – Ken Tamaru @ Microsoft
Copy Open files – with VShadow.exe (Shadow copies)
SyncToy – Microsoft Powertoy for synchronizing two folders
Convert KB/MB – Bits and Bytes, bandwidth calculations
Permcopy – Copy share & file ACLs from one share to another. (Win 2K ResKit)
Q323275 – Copy Security info without copying files (/SECFIX or /COPY:S)
Equivalent bash command: rsync – Remote file copy (Synchronize file trees)
This article is a copy/paste plus a few tweaks of http://ss64.com/nt/robocopy.html