robocopy

NAME

SYNOPSIS

AVAILABILITY

DESCRIPTION

By default robocopy will only copy a file if the source and destination have different time stamps or different file sizes.

By copying only the files that have changed, robocopy can be used to backup very large volumes.

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.

If creating a progress logfile with /LOG, specify a destination directory that already exists, robocopy will create the file but will not create a log directory automatically.

robocopy will accept UNC pathnames including UNC pathnames over 256 characters long.

/REG Writes to the registry at HKCU\Software\Microsoft\ResKit\Robocopy

/XX (exclude extra) If used in conjunction with /Purge or /Mir , this switch will take precedence and prevent any files being deleted from the destination.

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 fail to copy files that are locked by other users or applications, so limiting the number of retries with /R:0 will speed up copying by skipping any in-use files. The Windows Volume Shadow Copy service is the only Windows subsystem that can copy open files. robocopy does not use the Volume Shadow Copy service, but it can backup a volume shadow that has already been created with VSHADOW or DISKSHADOW.

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.

/B (backup mode) will allow robocopy to override file and folder permission settings (ACLs).

ERROR 5 (0x00000005) Changing File Attributes ... Access is denied This error usually means that File/Folder permissions or Share permissions on either the source or the destination are preventing the copy, either change the permissions or run the command in backup mode with /B.

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.

OPTIONS

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 = number 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).

/sl

Copy symbolic links instead of the target.

/Z

Copy files in restartable mode (survive network glitch).

/B

Copy files in Backup mode.

/J

Copy using unbuffered I/O (recommended for large files). ##

/NOOFFLOAD

Copy files without using the Windows Copy Offload mechanism. ##

/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.

/unicode

Display the status output as Unicode text. #

/LOG:file

Output status to LOG file (overwrite existing log).

/UNILOG:file

Output status to Unicode Log file (overwrite)

/LOG+:file

Output status to LOG file (append to existing log).

/UNILOG+:file

Output status to Unicode Log file (append)

/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 can 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 = number 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

eXclude Changed files

/XN

eXclude Newer files

/XL

eXclude "Lonely" files and dirs (present in source but not destination) This will prevent any new files being added to the destination.

/XX

eXclude "eXtra" files and dirs (present in destination but not source) This will prevent any deletions from the destination. (this is the default)

/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).

/XJD

Exclude junction points for directories. #

/XJF

Exclude junction points for files. #

/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 = number of 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.

/DEBUG

Show debug volume information (undocumented)

 # = New Option in Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2
 ## = New Option in Windows 8 and Windows 10

File Attributes [RASHCNETO]

R

Read only

A

Archive

S

System

H

Hidden

C

Compressed

N

Not content indexed

E

Encrypted

T

Temporary

O

Offline

EXIT STATUS

These can be combined, giving a few extra exit codes.

Any value greater than 7 indicates that there was at least one failure during the copy operation.

Hex Decimal Meaning if set 0x00 0 No errors occurred, and no copying was done.      The source and destination directory trees      are completely synchronized. 0x01 1 One or more files were copied successfully      (that is, new files have arrived). 0x02 2 Some Extra files or directories were detected.      No files were copiedExamine the output log      for details. 0x04 4 Some Mismatched files or directories were      detected. Examine the output log.      Housekeeping might be required. 0x08 8 Some files or directories could not be copied      (copy errors occurred and the retry limit was      exceeded). Check these errors further. 0x10 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. 0x03 3 (2+1) Some files were copied. Additional      files were present. No failure was encountered. 0x05 5 (4+1) Some files were copied. Some files were      mismatched. No failure was encountered. 0x06 6 (4+2) Additional files and mismatched files      exist. No files were copied and no failures      were encountered.      This means that the files already exist in      the destination directory. 0x07 7 (4+1+2) Files were copied, a file mismatch was      present, and additional files were present.

FILES

EXAMPLES

1) Simple copy of all files from one folder to another:

ROBOCOPY \\Server1\reports \\Server2\backup

2) Copy files including subfolders (even empty ones /E)

If this command is run repeatedly it will skip any files already in the destination, however it is not a true mirror as any files deleted from the source will remain in the destination.

ROBOCOPY \\Server1\reports \\Server2\backup *.* /E

3) List files over 32 MBytes in size:

ROBOCOPY C:\work /MAX:33554432 /L

4) Move files over 14 days old:

Note: the MOVE option will fail if any files are open and locked.

ROBOCOPY C:\work C:\destination /move /minage:14

5) Backup a Server:

The script below copies data from FileServ1 to FileServ2, the destination holds a full mirror along with file security info. When run regularly to synchronize the source and destination, robocopy will only copy those files that have changed (change in time stamp or size.)

@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:C:\batch\RoboLog.log /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%

6) Run two robocopy jobs 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

7) Copy only permission changes

(additions and removals) assuming we already have a copy of the data:

ROBOCOPY \\FileServer\C$ \\SVR-Backups\c$\Backups /E /Copy:S /IS /IT

8) Use the exit codes in a batch file to report anomalies:

if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 16 echo ***FATAL ERROR*** & goto end
if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 15 echo OKCOPY + FAIL + MISMATCHES + XTRA & goto end
if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 14 echo FAIL + MISMATCHES + XTRA & goto end
if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 13 echo OKCOPY + FAIL + MISMATCHES & goto end
if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 12 echo FAIL + MISMATCHES& goto end
if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 11 echo OKCOPY + FAIL + XTRA & goto end
if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 10 echo FAIL + XTRA & goto end
if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 9 echo OKCOPY + FAIL & goto end
if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 8 echo FAIL & goto end
if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 7 echo OKCOPY + MISMATCHES + XTRA & goto end
if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 6 echo MISMATCHES + XTRA & goto end
if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 5 echo OKCOPY + MISMATCHES & goto end
if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 4 echo MISMATCHES & goto end
if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 3 echo OKCOPY + XTRA & goto end
if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 2 echo XTRA & goto end
if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 1 echo OKCOPY & goto end
if %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 0 echo No Change & goto end
:end  

9) Copy files from one server to another

ROBOCOPY \\Server1\reports \\Server2\backup *.*
IF %ERRORLEVEL% LSS 8 goto finish

Echo Something failed & goto :eof

:finish
Echo All done, no fatal errors.

SEE ALSO

NOTES

BUGS

AUTHOR

COPYRIGHT

This is free software; see WA2LWinTools/man/COPYING for copying conditions. There is ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.