Robocopy Syntax, Command Line Switches and Examples
Robocopy (Robust File Copy) is a command-line file copying tool in Windows Vista. Although Robocopy is available for free with the download Windows Resource Kit since Windows NT 4.0, it has never been an official feature of the operating system until the arrival of Vista. Unlike other built-in file copying commands such as Copy and XCopy, Robocopy is designed for reliable copy or mirroring of entire folders of any size, and in the copying process, ensure that all NTFS ACLS, attributes, owner information, alternate data streams, auditing information, timestamps and properties are copied except security information unless explicitly requested with /COPYALL switch. And best of all, Robocopy works over network connections that are subject to disruption or outages with resume copying feature, and has progress indicator on the command line that is useful when copying large files.
Robocopy Syntax
ROBOCOPY source destination [file [file]…] [options]
where source is Source Directory (drive:\path or \\server\share\path), destination is Destination Directory (drive:\path or \\server\share\path) and file is File(s) to copy where names or wildcards can be specified and default is “*.*” (all files).
Robocopy Options and Switches
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.
/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).
(S=Security=NTFS ACLs, O=Owner info, U=aUditing info).
/DCOPY:T :: COPY Directory Timestamps.
/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).
/MOV :: MOVe files (delete from source after copying).
/MOVE :: MOVE files AND dirs (delete from source after copying).
/A+:[RASHCNET] :: add the given Attributes to copied files.
/A-:[RASHCNET] :: remove the given Attributes from copied files.
/CREATE :: CREATE directory tree and zero-length files only.
/FAT :: create destination files using 8.3 FAT file names only.
/256 :: turn off very long path (> 256 characters) support.
/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.
/IPG:n :: Inter-Packet Gap (ms), to free bandwidth on slow lines.
File Selection Options :
/A :: copy only files with the Archive attribute set.
/M :: copy only files with the Archive attribute and reset it.
/IA:[RASHCNETO] :: Include only files with any of the given Attributes set.
/XA:[RASHCNETO] :: eXclude files with any of the given Attributes set.
/XF file [file]… :: eXclude Files matching given names/paths/wildcards.
/XD dirs [dirs]… :: eXclude Directories matching given names/paths.
/XC :: eXclude Changed files.
/XN :: eXclude Newer files.
/XO :: eXclude Older files.
/XX :: eXclude eXtra files and directories.
/XL :: eXclude Lonely files and directories.
/IS :: Include Same files.
/IT :: Include Tweaked files.
/MAX:n :: MAXimum file size – exclude files bigger than n bytes.
/MIN:n :: MINimum file size – exclude files smaller than n bytes.
/MAXAGE:n :: MAXimum file AGE – exclude files older than n days/date.
/MINAGE:n :: MINimum file AGE – exclude files newer than n days/date.
/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).
/XJ :: eXclude Junction points. (normally included by default).
/FFT :: assume FAT File Times (2-second granularity).
/DST :: compensate for one-hour DST time differences.
/XJD :: eXclude Junction points for Directories.
/XJF :: eXclude Junction points for Files.
Retry Options :
/R:n :: number of Retries on failed copies: default 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).
Logging Options :
/L :: List only – don’t copy, timestamp or delete any files.
/X :: report all eXtra files, not just those selected.
/V :: produce Verbose output, showing skipped files.
/TS :: include source file Time Stamps in the output.
/FP :: include Full Pathname of files in the output.
/BYTES :: Print sizes as bytes.
/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.
/NP :: No Progress – don’t display % copied.
/ETA :: show Estimated Time of Arrival of copied files.
/LOG:file :: output status to LOG file (overwrite existing log).
/LOG+:file :: output status to LOG file (append to existing log).
/UNILOG:file :: output status to LOG file as UNICODE (overwrite existing log).
/UNILOG+:file :: output status to LOG file as UNICODE (append to existing log).
/TEE :: output to console window, as well as the log file.
/NJH :: No Job Header.
/NJS :: No Job Summary.
/UNICODE :: output status as UNICODE.
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.
Robocopy Examples
To use Robocopy is simple, just like how you would use Copy and Xcopy commands. For example, to copy entire folder of C:\Users to C:\UserBackup, simply type:
Robocopy C:\Users C:\UserBackup
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Entries (RSS)
November 16th, 2009 21:31
I am using BeyondComapre to copy the files from one system to other. We are using following command (here we are filtering something)
load “\\SystemName\Logfiles” “\\SystemName\Loglocation\dcs00onxohs7n66zpqh7ksvx0_3m8h”
filter “*_3m8h-dcs-*.*;-W3SVC1\”
sync update:lt->rt
I want to perform same task( copy and filering) using robocopy. Can anyone guide mme on this?
November 5th, 2009 01:14
DM
Did you ever get the correct syntax?
October 27th, 2009 00:55
I am using the following command line to move files that have not been accessed in more than two years. Problem is, ROBOCOPY seems to ignore the /MINLAD:730 switch, I even tried using /MINLAD:20071028 siwtch to no avail. All the files are moved:
ROBOCOPY /E /COPY:DATSOU /MOVE /MINLAD:730
WHat am I doing wrong?
April 8th, 2009 14:55
robocopy is a solid and efficient program. it helped me a lot.
September 28th, 2008 18:01
[...] Robocopy Syntax, Command Line Switches and Examples » My Digital Life (tags: robocopy copy) [...]
September 27th, 2008 01:22
Note that the XF switch does not accept folder\wildcard. This is MAJOR deficiency.
ERROR : Invalid Parameter #4 : “C:\dir\*.doc”
or
ERROR : Invalid Parameter #4 : “\dir\*.doc”
or
ERROR : Invalid Parameter #4 : “dir\*.doc”
–kicker
http://www.123facts.com
May 8th, 2007 02:59
[...] Robocopy is an advanced copy utility with has the feature to automatically resume file transfer on error or network disruption, or recover from terminated file copying, plus selective copying based on new or updated criteria. Beside, Robocopy also can preserve all of the file properties and information, including date and time stamps, security access control lists (ACLs) and more while replicating the file. Robocopy is definitely a more useful utility, especially for advanced users. However, Robocopy came built-in in Windows Vista with command line interface only. To ease the task of using Robocopy, a GUI (graphical user interface) has been made available by Microsoft. Robocopy GUI lets you specify your source and target paths, as well as any custom options or filters you’d like to apply, whether or not you’d like to create a drive mapping, where you’d like to store the resulting logs, and so on. These are all features you can certainly execute with traditional Robocopy command line functionality, but for many, having the options consolidated in a graphical interface may really simplify the process. [...]