backing up certain files in a folder using powershell

Question

I have a couple of questions. I have certain binaries in a folder...

F:\program files\application\Client\

I only want to copy the latest dll's that have a certain phrase in there names. Lets say "MVCsite". I know you can use Get-ChildItem -Filter with the filter parameters, to get just child items with a .dll extension, but is there a way to look for specific files with specific keywords, or am I going to have to literally copy a list of files out of the directory and move it to a back up folder? Is there a quick and dirty command to do that? As you can tell, I am new to powershell, but I am learning fast.

It there just a single keyword, or can there be more than one of them? — dan-gph
– dan-gph, Commented Jan 15, 2014 at 1:13

dan-gph · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-15 03:12:56Z

1

gci -path $path -filter "*.dll" | where {$_.Name -match "Keyword1|Keyword2|etc"}

edited Jan 15, 2014 at 3:12

dan-gph

17.1k13 gold badges65 silver badges83 bronze badges

answered Jan 14, 2014 at 23:24

Vasili Syrakis

9,6912 gold badges43 silver badges59 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

4 Comments

Vasili Syrakis Over a year ago

Get-ChildItem, same as you posted :) it can also be used as ls or dir

dan-gph Over a year ago

"-contains" won't work. I've taken the liberty of editing your answer. I hope you don't mind. Also it seems that there can be more than one keyword, so I've put those in too.

SoftwareSavant Over a year ago

Can you have multiple -filter params? can you send an array to -filter?

Vasili Syrakis Over a year ago

Unfortunately not, it may only take a [string], not an array

Adi Inbar · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-15 00:20:43Z

0

Simply use wildcards in your -Path parameter:

Copy-Item F:\program files\application\Client\*MVCsite*.dll X:\DestinationDir

That will copy all files in F:\program files\application\Client\ whose names contain the string "MVCsite" and have the extension ".dll". Is that what you wanted to accomplish? If not, please clarify.

answered Jan 15, 2014 at 0:20

Adi Inbar

12.4k13 gold badges60 silver badges71 bronze badges

3 Comments

SoftwareSavant Over a year ago

I guess technically I could just put an array into that -Path parameter If I new all the files I wanted to copy.

Adi Inbar Over a year ago

I don't understand the comment. Yes, you could do it that way, but putting that array together would be rather tedious. I thought the idea was to copy all files that have a certain extension and a certain string in their names. Are you trying to say that you think this solution requires you to list all the filenames individually? It doesn't. That one line copies all files that have "MVCsite" in the name and the ".dll" extension, all at once.

SoftwareSavant Over a year ago

I know what you mean, I guess I was kind of 'thinking out loud' kindof, I was wondering if there was some kind of trade off, when I could simply just list all the files I need. But your answer is fine as well.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

backing up certain files in a folder using powershell

2 Answers 2

4 Comments

3 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

4 Comments

3 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related