Check if multiple directories exist in Powershell and then execute command

Question

I am using this command to remove multiple files in two different directories:

     Remove-Item -path c:\tmp\folder1\*, c:\tmp\folder1\* -Force -Recurse

both folders contain some zip files and sub folders which i want te remove

I need to check if those folders (folder1 and folder2) exist and not empty before executing this command. Can't figure it out :(

Any help would be appreciated.

Take a look at Get-ChildItem (learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/…). — Paxz
– Paxz, Commented Mar 7, 2019 at 14:28
use Test-Path to see if the dir exists. do you really care if there is anything in the target dir? — Lee_Dailey
– Lee_Dailey, Commented Mar 7, 2019 at 14:28
@Lee_Dailey i am running this in ansible playbook so if the directory not exists the task will fail. — Marvelous
– Marvelous, Commented Mar 7, 2019 at 14:33
so you cannot use test-path inside the script? ///// you really ought to add that info to your OP - it seems to be an important part of the problem ... [grin] — Lee_Dailey
– Lee_Dailey, Commented Mar 7, 2019 at 14:43
If you can't use Test-Path for some reason I can't think of, you could simply ignore errors on folders that do not exist by writing Remove-Item -path c:\tmp\folder1\*, c:\tmp\DoesNotExist\* -Force -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue. Of course this will also hide errors when there are files in there you may not delete because of lack of permissions.. — Theo
– Theo, Commented Mar 7, 2019 at 15:01

user6811411 · Accepted Answer · 2019-03-07 15:30:08Z

2

If you want to check multiple conditions with an if then -and the results:

if ((Test-Path 'C:\tmp\folder1\*') -and 
    (Test-Path 'C:\tmp\folder2\*') ){
    Remove-Item -path c:\tmp\folder1\*, c:\tmp\folder1\* -Force -Recurse
} else {
    "not all conditions met."
}

An explicit Test-Path for the folders isn't neccessary as it is implied with items in the folders.

answered Mar 7, 2019 at 15:30

user6811411

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Comments

Rohan Thakkar · Accepted Answer · 2019-03-07 14:38:30Z

1

I suggest using the command "test-path", and then using a | (a pipe) to output a true or false value for proceeding to executing the command that you are using to delete a directory.

answered Mar 7, 2019 at 14:38

Rohan Thakkar

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