robocopy says its receiving invalid parameters in when used in powershell script

Question

I'm attempting to use robocopy in a PowerShell script, but currently failing. When I run the following command manually

robocopy \\corporatesystem00.local.com\C$\Maven\ \\corporatesystem01.local.com\C$\Maven\ * /e /purge

I am able to copy all the contents of one folder to another, and it works like magic. However, with how "wonderful" PowerShell is, I think I'm running into an unknown gotchya. When I run the same command above from a PowerShell script, I receive this error:

PS C:\Program_Files> .\jenkins-maven-copy.ps1
Performing Jenkins Maven Sync
robocopy \\corporatesystem00.local.com\C$\Maven\ \\corporatesystem01.local.com\C$\Maven\ * /e /purge

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   ROBOCOPY     ::     Robust File Copy for Windows
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Started : Wednesday, July 30, 2014 3:00:03 PM
   Source - \\corporatesystem00.local.com\C$\Maven\
     Dest - \\corporatesystem01.local.com\C$\Maven\

    Files : *

  Options : /DCOPY:DA /COPY:DAT /R:1000000 /W:30

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ERROR : Invalid Parameter #4 : "/e /purge"

       Simple Usage :: ROBOCOPY source destination /MIR

             source :: Source Directory (drive:\path or \\server\share\path).
        destination :: Destination Dir  (drive:\path or \\server\share\path).
               /MIR :: Mirror a complete directory tree.

    For more usage information run ROBOCOPY /?


****  /MIR can DELETE files as well as copy them !

This happens for any commandline option I'm putting in for my options in the script. The script I am running, is below.

Param (
    [string]$srcLocation = '\\corporatesystem00.local.com\C$\Maven\',
    [string]$destLocation = '\\corporatesystem01.local.com\C$\Maven\',
    [string]$files = '*',
    [string]$options = '/e /purge'
)

function syncMaven( $srcLocation, $destLocation, $files, $options )
{
    Write-Host "Performing Jenkins Maven Sync"
    Write-Host "robocopy $srcLocation $destLocation $files $options"
    robocopy $srcLocation $destLocation $files $options
}

syncMaven $srcLocation $destLocation $files $options

If you look at the error/output from earlier, it shows that the command is being passed, with the command options, but robocopy isn't recognizing them or something.

PS C:\Program_Files> .\jenkins-maven-copy.ps1
Performing Jenkins Maven Sync
robocopy \\corporatesystem00.local.com\C$\Maven\ \\corporatesystem01.local.com\C$\Maven\ * /e /purge

So, I'm at a loss.

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 30 '14 at 21:20

3

It's likely you can reproduce your problem by trying the following in PowerShell:

robocopy a b * "/e /purge"

If this is true, parameter expansion is what's causing your problem. To work around this, you can go this route:

iex "$srcLocation $destLocation $files $options"

answered Jul 30 '14 at 21:20

ch2500

796
5
9

what does the `iex` option do? – FilBot3 Jul 31 '14 at 00:49
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6338015/in-powershell-how-do-you-execute-an-arbitrary-native-command-from-a-string – FilBot3 Jul 31 '14 at 01:01
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh849893.aspx – FilBot3 Jul 31 '14 at 01:09
1

I will, once I get to work. I don't have access to what I need to test. – FilBot3 Jul 31 '14 at 02:30

robocopy says its receiving invalid parameters in when used in powershell script

1 Answers1