# Robocopy - Excellent Command



## Krazzy Warrior (Jan 10, 2009)

*Robocopy*, or "Robust File Copy", is a command-line directory replication command. It was available as part of the Windows Resource Kit, and introduced as a standard feature of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.
 Robocopy is designed for reliable mirroring of directories or directory trees. It has features to ensure all NTFS attributes and properties are copied, and includes additional restart code for network connections subject to disruption.


*Features*

 Robocopy is notable for capabilities above and beyond the built-in Windows copy and xcopy commands, including the following:


Ability to tolerate network outages and resume copying where it previously left off (incomplete files are noted with a date stamp corresponding to 1980-01-01 and contain a recovery record so Robocopy knows from where to continue).
Ability to correctly copy attributes, owner information, alternate data streams, auditing information, and timestamps by default, without the need for numerous often forgotten command line switches.
Ability to correctly copy NTFS ACLs, (when /COPYALL provided), and to assert the Windows NT "backup right" (/B) so an administrator may copy an entire directory, including files denied readability to the administrator.
Persistence by default, with a programmable number of automatic retries if a file cannot be opened.
A "mirror" mode, which keeps trees in sync by optionally deleting files out of the destination that are no longer present in the source.
Ability to copy large numbers of files that would otherwise crash the built-in XCOPY utility.
A progress indicator on the command line that updates continuously.
 Notably, Robocopy cannot copy open files that are in use by other users or applications. The so-called _Backup mode_ is an administrative privilege that allows Robocopy to override permissions settings (specifically, NTFS ACLs) for the purpose of making backups. The Windows Volume Shadow Copy service is the only Windows subsystem that can copy open files while they are in use. Robocopy does not implement accessing the Volume Shadow Copy service in any way, inhibiting its usefulness as a backup utility for volumes that may be in use. However, one can use separate utilities such as VSHADOW or DISKSHADOW (included with Windows Server 2008) to create a shadow copy of a given volume with which to backup using Robocopy.
 On the other hand, by design, the original Robocopy version is not able to replicate security attributes of files which have had their security permissions changed after an initial mirroring.  This behavior was fixed on Robocopy versions included in Windows 2008 and Windows Vista. The downside of this approach is that it means Robocopy does not behave consistently between different platforms. 

*GUI front-end*

 Although Robocopy itself is a command-line tool, Microsoft Technet has also provided a GUI front-end. It has been developed by Derk Benisch, a systems engineer with the MSN Search group at Microsoft.[3] Robocopy GUI also includes version XP026 of Robocopy (Vista version). When downloaded from the TechNet link below, the version reported is "Microsoft Robocopy GUI 3.1.2." When this version of RoboCopy is run, it then reports on its header:
   ROBOCOPY     ::     Robust File Copy for Windows     ::     Version XP026

* Common usage examples*

 Copy directory contents recursively, all contents of foo to bar:
  robocopy C:\foo C:\bar /E
Copy directory recursively (/E), and copy all file information (/COPYALL, equivalent to /COPYATSOU, D=Data, A=Attributes, T=Timestamps, S=Security=NTFS ACLs, O=Owner info, U=aUditing info), do not retry locked files (/R:0):
  robocopy C:\foo C:\bar /COPYALL /E /R:0
Mirror foo to bar, destroying any files in bar that are not present in foo (/MIR), copy files in restartable mode (/Z) in case network connection is lost:
  robocopy C:\foo \\backupserver\bar /MIR /Z

* Folder copier, not file copier*

 The syntax of Robocopy is markedly different from that of standard copy commands, in that it only accepts the names of folders, not files, as its source and destination arguments. Names of files and wild-card designations (such as "**.**") are not acceptable as source or destination. Files may be selected or excluded using the optional filespec filtering argument. Filespecs can only refer to the filenames relative to the folders already selected for copying, and fully-qualified path names are not accepted.
 For example, in order to copy the file *foo.txt* from directory *c:\bar* to *c:\baz*, one could use the following syntax:
  robocopy c:\bar c:\baz foo.txt

*Partial list of command line switches*

 The following is a list of the more common command line options for Robocopy:

* Common options*

 /MIR Activates mirror mode, deleting any files in the destination that are not present in the source (equivalent to /E and /PURGE)./Z Copy files in restartable mode. "Restartable" means Robocopy should write a recovery record inside an incomplete file so if the operation is interrupted or aborted, a future run of Robocopy can resume copying where the previous one left off, instead of starting over at the beginning. This is useful for reliably copying large files or many files over an unreliable network such as a VPN or the Internet. An incomplete file has the same file size as the complete file, and is noted with a date stamp in the file system being within 24 hours of 1980-01-01 00:00./COPYALL Makes sure NTFS security information is copied. Equivalent to /COPYATSOU, where D=Data, A=Attributes, T=Timestamps, S=Security=NTFS ACLs, O=Owner info, U=aUditing info/B Opens files in backup mode. Backup mode allows files to be opened without security restrictions, but requires additional rights on both the source and destination systems./ZB Use restartable mode; if access denied use backup mode. 
*Specialized options*

 /S Copies subdirectories unless they are empty (like XCOPY)./E Copies subdirectories, even empty ones (like XCOPY)./M Copies only files with the Archive attribute and reset it (like XCOPY /M option)./MOV Moves the files, removing them from the source folder./MOVE Moves files AND dirs (folders) (delete from source after copying)./MON:n This will monitor and trigger a copy after n changes (and MOT minutes)./MOT:n This will set the minimum monitor interval (n minutes) before another copy is triggered./XA:attributes E*x*cludes files with any of the given *a*ttributes set. Example: /XA:H will skip copying any hidden files./XF filespec E*x*cludes *f*iles indicated by filespec. Wildcards are accepted. Example: /XF *.bak will skip copying any file with an extension of .bak./XD dirspec E*x*cludes *d*irectories indicated by dirspec by name/path. Wildcards work (i.e. /XD BKUP* skips copying all directories whose name starts with "BKUP", regardless of where in the source tree they are found)./XC E*x*clude *c*hanged files./XN E*x*clude *n*ewer files./XO E*x*clude *o*lder files (Please note that the Robocopy GUI (3.1.1) does not use this switch correctly, meaning it still copies older files over newer ones. Version 3.1.2 corrects this problem.)/XX E*x*clude e*x*tra files and directories./XL E*x*clude *l*onely files and directories./IS *I*nclude *s*ame files./IT *I*nclude *t*weaked files (ie.: if one file has Archive attribute, while the other file has Archive and Read-only properties)./XJ E*x*clude *j*unctions. When copying user accounts to another place in Windows Vista, it is important to exclude junctions. The junction in '\Users\...\AppData\Local' named 'Application Data' points to its parent folder, creating a loop which will break Robocopy. Furthermore, if a junction point is contained in a source disk which is mirrored using /MIR (or /E /PURGE) to a target disk, and a junction point from the source disk is copied to the target disk, it will "point to" your source disk, potentially resulting in modification of the contents of the source disk./R:n Tells Robocopy to retry 'n' times before giving up in the event of error (default is 1 million)./IPG:n Tells Robocopy to pause 'n' milliseconds between packets for network transfers. Useful to preserve bandwidth on slow lines./L Pretends to do the copy without actually doing it, which is useful for testing a command line without being committed to the results./W:n Wait time between retries (default is 30 seconds)./PURGE Deletes files no longer in the source location./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). 
* Logging options*

 /NFL *N*o *f*ile *l*ist – don't log file names./NDL *N*o *d*irectory *l*ist – do not log directory names./NS *N*o *s*ize – don't log file sizes./NC *N*o *c*lass – don't log file classes./X Report all e*x*tra files, not just those selected./V Produce *v*erbose output, showing skipped files./TS Include source file *t*ime *s*tamps in the output./FP Include *f*ull *p*athname of files in the output./NP *N*o *p*rogress – don't display % copied./ETA Show *e*stimated *t*ime of *a*rrival of copied files./LOG:file.txt Replace file.txt with the status of the run./LOG+:file.txt Append the status of the run to file.txt./TEE Output to console window, as well as the log file./NJH *N*o *j*ob *h*eader./NJS *N*o *j*ob *s*ummary.


Source:-*en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robocopy


*I founded that yesterday and found of great use in practical life..Just waana share..plz comment...*


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## skippednote (Jan 10, 2009)

Duh!!


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## Faun (Jan 10, 2009)

who uses command line in windows...lol


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## Kl@w-24 (Jan 10, 2009)

'A command-line directory replication command'

Technical jargon sucks.


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## utsav (Jan 10, 2009)

Seems am back to 1981  .

Oops I wasnt evn born then


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## Krazy Bluez (Jan 10, 2009)

Too G33K fo me !!!


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## Liverpool_fan (Jan 14, 2009)

Interesting...


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## JojoTheDragon (Jan 14, 2009)




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