Update 20150916
So the pic I used to display the CSV sample went missing. So the latest update just includes a text version of what was displayed. Thanks!
Original Post
I'm still fairly new to utilizing PowerShell to automate tasks and get big tasks done. But every time I use it, the tool makes my life a whole lot easier. Recently I was tasked with deleting over 500 directories. Thankfully someone else had the task of identifying the directories that were slated to be deleted, I just had to complete the process of removing them. Thanks to a little article from the Scripting Guy! Blog (found HERE) I had some direction to start in.
What I ended up doing is creating a single column CSV file that contains the path to the directories to be deleted. This path includes drive letter, and the overall path to the folder. It should look similar to this:
I named the file "delete.csv" and placed it into my scripting folder on the C drive. Now with this set up and in place we can move onto using PowerShell. We will be using a combination of commands in a one-liner that will not only delete the files but auto-confirm the deletion. I'll put the command next and attempt to break it down as far as my knowledge of PowerShell goes...
The first part "Import-CSV" obviously tells PowerShell to look at the CSV we created with the necessary directories to be deleted. The "Foreach-Object" will loop through the CSV to delete all items in it. The "Remove-Item" part tells PowerShell to deleted the specified items with a "LiteralPath" (where the directory can be found) found in the "delete" column. The "Force" item tells PowerShell to remove items that cannot be changed, such as read only or hidden files. The "Recurse" item will force the confirmation of the deletion (so you don't have to babysit the command and keep hitting "Y"). Finally the "WhatIf" item allows you to test the command and see if it works before running it. This also gives you an opportunity to make sure you have the correct directories that you want to delete. Be sure to remove the "-WhatIf" when you are ready for the command to delete the selected directories!!
For more information check out the Microsoft Tech Net article on the Remove-Item cmdlet HERE.
So the pic I used to display the CSV sample went missing. So the latest update just includes a text version of what was displayed. Thanks!
Original Post
I'm still fairly new to utilizing PowerShell to automate tasks and get big tasks done. But every time I use it, the tool makes my life a whole lot easier. Recently I was tasked with deleting over 500 directories. Thankfully someone else had the task of identifying the directories that were slated to be deleted, I just had to complete the process of removing them. Thanks to a little article from the Scripting Guy! Blog (found HERE) I had some direction to start in.
What I ended up doing is creating a single column CSV file that contains the path to the directories to be deleted. This path includes drive letter, and the overall path to the folder. It should look similar to this:
delete
C:\Path\to\folder
C:\Path\to\folder2
D:\Path\to\folder
D:\Path\to\folder2
I named the file "delete.csv" and placed it into my scripting folder on the C drive. Now with this set up and in place we can move onto using PowerShell. We will be using a combination of commands in a one-liner that will not only delete the files but auto-confirm the deletion. I'll put the command next and attempt to break it down as far as my knowledge of PowerShell goes...
Import-CSV .\delete.csv | Foreach-Object { Remove-Item -LiteralPath $_.delete -Force -Recurse -WhatIf }
The first part "Import-CSV" obviously tells PowerShell to look at the CSV we created with the necessary directories to be deleted. The "Foreach-Object" will loop through the CSV to delete all items in it. The "Remove-Item" part tells PowerShell to deleted the specified items with a "LiteralPath" (where the directory can be found) found in the "delete" column. The "Force" item tells PowerShell to remove items that cannot be changed, such as read only or hidden files. The "Recurse" item will force the confirmation of the deletion (so you don't have to babysit the command and keep hitting "Y"). Finally the "WhatIf" item allows you to test the command and see if it works before running it. This also gives you an opportunity to make sure you have the correct directories that you want to delete. Be sure to remove the "-WhatIf" when you are ready for the command to delete the selected directories!!
For more information check out the Microsoft Tech Net article on the Remove-Item cmdlet HERE.
Larry,
ReplyDeleteThanks much. This worked great. You may want to make available a CSV sample to help in setting that file up. Even without that file (though), I was able to clean up some folders that had a specific criteria.
Great Work,
Greg R
Hi Greg,
DeleteThanks for pointing that out! I had a screen shot there of the sample CSV that seems to have been lost... I've updated the post with some sample text of what the CSV should contain. Glad it worked for you.