Hi,

I am trying to archive off all files older than 1 year from our primary File server to an archive file server. I want to move any files older than 365 days to the archive server, however I could only seem to get my script to move the files and it would not maintain the folder structure. I found a thread here which showed how to maintain the folder structure but whenever i try to incorporate this into my script it seems to error:

$Path is a local server and $archpath is a mapped drive to a destination server.

$path = "D:\Group\IT" 
$archpath = "A:\IT" 
$days = "365" 
$logpath = "D:\DB\Reports\Archive_Logs\IT" 
$date = Get-Date -format yyyyMMdd 
$newpath = $archpath + $_.DirectoryName.Replace($path,"")
 
write-progress -activity "Archiving Data" -status "Progress:" 
 
If ( -not (Test-Path $archpath)) {ni $archpath -type directory} 
 
Get-Childitem -Path $path -recurse | Where-Object {$_.LastWriteTime -lt (get-date).AddDays(-$days)} | 
ForEach { $filename = $_.fullname 
 New-Item $newpath -type directory -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
          Move-Item $_.FullName -destination $newpath -force 
"Successfully moved $filename to $newpath" | add-content $logpath\log-$date.txt 
}

I get this error below:

You cannot call a method on a null-valued expression.
At D:\DB\Powershell\DFS\Archive.ps1:10 char:1
+ $newpath = $archpath + $_.DirectoryName.Replace($path,"")
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidOperation: (:) [], RuntimeException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : InvokeMethodOnNull
 
New-Item : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is null.
At D:\DB\Powershell\DFS\Archive.ps1:18 char:13
+       New-Item $newpath -type directory -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
+                ~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidData: (:) [New-Item], ParameterBindingValidationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.NewItemCommand
 
Move-Item : Cannot process argument because the value of argument "destination" is null. Change the value of argument "destination" to a non-null value.
At D:\DB\Powershell\DFS\Archive.ps1:19 char:11
+           Move-Item $_.FullName -destination $newpath -force
+           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidArgument: (:) [Move-Item], PSArgumentNullException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentNull,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.MoveItemCommand
 
Get-Childitem : The specified path, file name, or both are too long. The fully qualified file name must be less than 260 characters, and the directory name must be less than 248 characters.
At D:\DB\Powershell\DFS\Archive.ps1:16 char:1
+ Get-Childitem -Path $path -recurse | Where-Object {$_.LastWriteTime -lt (get-dat ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : ReadError: (D:\Group\IT\A-I...N FEE - MUAM\BT:String) [Get-ChildItem], PathTooLongException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DirIOError,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetChildItemCommand
 
New-Item : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is null.
At D:\DB\Powershell\DFS\Archive.ps1:18 char:13
+       New-Item $newpath -type directory -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
+                ~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidData: (:) [New-Item], ParameterBindingValidationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.NewItemCommand
 
New-Item : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is null.
At D:\DB\Powershell\DFS\Archive.ps1:18 char:13
+       New-Item $newpath -type directory -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
+                ~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidData: (:) [New-Item], ParameterBindingValidationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.NewItemCommand

Your usage von $newpath is not correct because "$_" is not available at that moment. 
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3494115/what-does-mean-in-powershell

You have to use $newpath like this: 

Get-Childitem -Path $path -recurse| Where-Object {$_.LastWriteTime -lt (get-date).AddDays(-$days)} |
ForEach { $filename = $_.fullname
	  $newpath=$archpath + $_.DirectoryName.Replace($path,"")
	  New-Item $newpath -type directory -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
          Move-Item $_.FullName -destination $newpath -force 
"Successfully moved $filename to $newpath" | add-content $logpath\log-$date.txt 
}

• Edited by KranzerM 23 hours 23 minutes ago

Hey,

Thanks for the reply however it still gives an error message about the destination being a null value.

Are you sure you saved the file? Because the errormessage and your code does not fit together.

• Edited by KranzerM 19 hours 51 minutes ago

Your usage von $newpath is not correct because "$_" is not available at that moment. 
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3494115/what-does-mean-in-powershell

You have to use $newpath like this: 

Get-Childitem -Path $path -recurse| Where-Object {$_.LastWriteTime -lt (get-date).AddDays(-$days)} |
ForEach { $filename = $_.fullname
	  $newpath=$archpath + $_.DirectoryName.Replace($path,"")
	  New-Item $newpath -type directory -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
          Move-Item $_.FullName -destination $newpath -force 
"Successfully moved $filename to $newpath" | add-content $logpath\log-$date.txt 
}

• Edited by KranzerM Thursday, August 20, 2015 7:47 AM

hi,

You are correct, however i still get the below message:



Please post the actual error message instead of pictures.

You cannot call a method on a null-valued expression.
At D:\DB\Powershell\DFS\Archive.ps1:16 char:5
+     $newpath=$archpath + $_.DirectoryName.Replace($path,"")
+     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidOperation: (:) [], RuntimeException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : InvokeMethodOnNull
 
Move-Item : Could not find a part of the path.
At D:\DB\Powershell\DFS\Archive.ps1:18 char:11
+           Move-Item $_.FullName -destination $newpath -force
+           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : WriteError: (BT INTERNET CAN... ID 1394836.msg:FileInfo) [Move-Item], DirectoryNotFoundException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : MoveFileInfoItemIOError,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.MoveItemCommand
 
Get-Childitem : The specified path, file name, or both are too long. The fully qualified file name must be less than 260 characters, and the directory name must be less than 248 characters.
At D:\DB\Powershell\DFS\Archive.ps1:14 char:1
+ Get-Childitem -Path $path -recurse | Where-Object {$_.LastWriteTime -lt (get-dat ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : ReadError: (D:\Group\IT\A-I...N FEE - MUAM\BT:String) [Get-ChildItem], PathTooLongException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DirIOError,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetChildItemCommand

Skip the script and just use robocopy:

http://ss64.com/nt/robocopy.html

Hitting the character limit is a pain to work around.

Have you tried to debug the script (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd819480.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396)

Setting breakpoint to line 16 (F9)
Start Script (F5)
Put the "$_" out.

....

Something like this?

robocopy \\Source \\Destination /E /COPY:DATS /R:5 /W:10 /zb /MINAGE:365 /LOG:\\LOG.TXT

Are you sure you saved the file? Because the errormessage and your code does not fit together.

• Edited by KranzerM Thursday, August 20, 2015 11:20 AM