Delete a list of files from a list of servers in powershell

Question

I need to delete a list of files (in remove-files.txt) from a list of server (computer-list.txt). I've tried the following but it didn't work, i am hoping someone can please help me correct my errors.

$SOURCE = "C:\powershell\copy\data"
$DESTINATION = "d$\copy"
$LOG = "C:\powershell\copy\logsremote_copy.log"
$REMOVE = Get-Content C:\powershell\copy\remove-list.txt

Remove-Item $LOG -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$computerlist = Get-Content C:\powershell\copy\computer-list.txt

foreach ($computer in $computerlist) {
Remove-Item \\$computer\$DESTINATION\$REMOVE -Recurse}

ERROR

Remove-Item : Cannot find path '\\NT-xxxx-xxxx\d$\copy\File1.msi, File2.msi, File3.exe,          File4, File5.msi,' because it does not exist.
At C:\powershell\copy\REMOVE_DATA_x.ps1:13 char:12
+ Remove-Item <<<<  \\$computer\$DESTINATION\$REMOVE -Recurse}
+ CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (\\NT-xxxx-xxxxx\...-file1.msi,:String)     [Remove-Item], ItemNotFoundException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : PathNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.RemoveItemCommand

Try wrapping your variables: Remove-Item "\\$computer\$DESTINATION\$REMOVE" -Recurse} — Austin T French
– Austin T French, Commented Jun 24, 2013 at 17:10
Yes, I agree that it would be safer to double-quote the path, in case any of the filenames contain spaces or shell special characters. However, that's not the cause of this error. The reason for the error is that $REMOVE is a multi-valued array that expands to a list of filenames rather than a single filename. — Adi Inbar
– Adi Inbar, Commented Jun 24, 2013 at 17:29

Adi Inbar · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-24 17:31:21Z

1

$REMOVE is an array whose elements are each line of remove-list.txt. In \\$computer\$DESTINATION\$REMOVE, $REMOVE expands to a list of the array's elements. There's nothing in your code that tells PowerShell to iterate through the elements of $REMOVE. You need an inner loop:

foreach ($computer in $computerlist) {
  foreach ($file in $REMOVE) {
    Remove-Item "\\$computer\$DESTINATION\$file" -Recurse
  }
}

BTW, what exactly is -Recurse intended to accomplish? Were you thinking that this would make Remove-Item iterate through an array of filenames at the end of the path? That's not what it does. The -Recurse switch tells Remove-Item to remove not only the item specified by the path, but all its children as well. If you're invoking Remove-Item on a filesystem, you'd use -Recurse with directories, to delete the entire subtree (all files, subdirectories, and files in the subdirectories). If (as your example implies) $REMOVE contains only files and not directories, you don't need -Recurse.

Also, it's a good idea to double-quote the path, in case any of the filenames contain spaces or special characters.

edited Jun 24, 2013 at 17:31

answered Jun 24, 2013 at 17:18

Adi Inbar

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1 Comment

olufs3n Over a year ago

Thank you for your help! As you explained, i am trying to remove some files as well as some directories

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