RoboCopy
If you are familiar with rsync on Linux, you will appreciate this Windows command line tool - robocopy.
Robocopy stands for “Robust File Copy.” It is a built-in Windows utility tool for transfering files from one location to another.
Robocopy Syntax and Flags
The basic syntax for robocopy is as follow:
robocopy SOURCE DESTINATIONThere are also some flags you can use to fine tune the file transfer. Some are the most commonly used flags are:
| Flags |
Description |
| /s | Copies subdirectories and excludes empty directories |
| /e | Copies subdirectories and includes empty directories |
| /dcopy:<copyflags> |
Specifies what to attribute to copy over. The attribute options are:
|
| /purge | Deletes destination files and directories that no longer exist in the source |
| /mir | Mirrors the destination with the source (equivalent to /e plus /purge) |
| /mov | Moves files, and deletes them from the source after they're copied |
| /move | Moves files and directories, and deletes them from the source after they're copied |
| /r:<n> | Specifies the number of retries on failed copies. The default value of n is 1,000,000 (one million retries). |
| /w:<n> | Specifies the wait time between retries, in seconds. The default value of n is 30 (wait time 30 seconds). |
| /log:<logfile> | Writes the status output to the log file (overwrites the existing log file) |
| /log+:<logfile> | Writes the status output to the log file (appends the output to the existing log file). |
Below is what I personally use for my robocopy transfers:
robocopy SOURCE DESTINATION /E /DCOPY:DAT /R:4 /W:10 /LOG:C:\temp\robocopylog.txt
When finish running, you can see the stats of the robocopy from the log file.
Occasionally, I also use the /MIR option to keep the destination in sync with the source. This will copy over any difference from the source folder to the destination folder, and then delete from the destination folder that is no longer in the source folder.
robocopy SOURCE DESTINATION /MIR /E /DCOPY:DAT /R:4 /W:10 /LOG:C:\temp\robocopylog.txt
