how to delete a folder using invoke command in powershell

Question

First time asking a question here after using it for a long time.

I'm currently making a powershell script to delete userdata when they left the company for a month.

I already tried deleting the folder using the normal remove-item and this works however this is a very slow process when going over the network.

I then found out about the invoke-command function which can run on a remote computer. Now i can't seem to get this working.

I keep getting the error that the path is not found. However it seems like powershell is changing my path. How can i prevent this from happening?

Cannot find path 'C:\Users\admcia\Documents\P$\PERSONAL\JOBA' because it does not exist.
    + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (C:\Users\admcia...$\PERSONAL\JOBA:String) [Remove-Item], ItemNotFoundException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : PathNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.RemoveItemCommand
    + PSComputerName        : ODNDATA

my code is the following: Note that P$ is the local drive letter on the server. Also note That $item.SamAccountName is used for creating foldername. (we use Samaccountname as the name of the users folder.

     $localPath1 = "P$" + "\PERSONAL\" + $item.SamAccountName
     $serverName = "Remotecompter"
     Invoke-Command -ComputerName $serverName -ScriptBlock { Remove-Item $using:localPath1 -Force -Recurse -Confirm:$false }

@olaf the p$ is hardcoded text as that is the driver letter. — user2964192
– user2964192, Commented Aug 1, 2022 at 7:42
@Olaf it is the local drive letter on the remote server. the data is on the p-drive of remotecomputer — user2964192
– user2964192, Commented Aug 1, 2022 at 8:00
If this is a local path why do you use a dollar sign? It should be P: when you access a local drive. ;-) — Olaf
– Olaf, Commented Aug 1, 2022 at 8:43

Theo · Accepted Answer · 2022-08-02 12:02:15Z

1

If as seen from your local machine, the drive is \\Remotecomputer\P$\, then for the remote computer (where the code is executed) the path is just P:\.
To combine strings into a path, I would suggest you better use the Join-Path cmdlet rather than concatenating the strings with '+'

Try

$localPath1 = Join-Path -Path 'P:\PERSONAL' -ChildPath $item.SamAccountName
$serverName = "Remotecompter"
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $serverName -ScriptBlock { Remove-Item $using:localPath1 -Force -Recurse -Confirm:$false }

answered Aug 2, 2022 at 12:02

Theo

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Shritej Murmadkar · Accepted Answer · 2022-08-01 07:05:23Z

-1

You can use -ArgumentList in Invoke command,

Invoke-Command -ComputerName $serverName -ScriptBlock { 
param($localPath1)
Remove-Item $localPath1 -Force -Recurse -Confirm:$false
 } -ArgumentList($localPath1)

make sure your path is correct, and if it does not work try to hardcode the path in your code.

answered Aug 1, 2022 at 7:05

Shritej Murmadkar

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1 Comment

user2964192 Over a year ago

Hi, I tried this but it did not work. It keeps giving the same result. It should not create the c:\ part. and go straight to the p-drive.

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