How to Use RoboCopy to Backup Data

How to Use RoboCopy to Backup Data

CHUONG K. NGUYEN – BSc., MCSEx2, MCSAx2, MCP, MCTS, MCITP, CCNA

RoboCopy is a built-in Windows application that can be used to copy data from a source location to a destination location.

I used the following Robocopy command to copy data from a shared directory called SOURCE on SOURCE-SRV to the destination folder called DESTINATION on the current server. All security permissions are kept intact.

E:\>robocopy \\SOURCE-SRV\SOURCE E:\DESTINATION /E /ZB /DCOPY:T /COPYALL /R:1 /W:1 /V /TEE /LOG:robocopy_archive.Log

Note that this assumes the current server has access to the source server. Please refer to the RoboCopy documentation for the switch usages.

For example:

if exist Z: net use Z: /delete
net use Z: \\DESTTINATIONSERVER\SHARED Passw0rd! /user:username /persistent:y
robocopy E:\SOURCEDIR Z:\DESTDIR /E /ZB /DCOPY:T /R:1 /W:1 /V /TEE /LOG:Robocopy_SOURCEDIR.Log

The log file robocopy_archive.log is stored in the current directory which is the E: drive.

Example 2: This example will cut out the log and eliminate some status display, creating the effect of a quiet mode.

@ECHO OFF
if exist Z: net use Z: /delete /y
net use Z: \\DESTINATIONSERVER\SHARED Passw0rd! /user:username /persistent:y

robocopy E:\SOURCEDIR Z:\DESTDIR /njh /njs /ndl /nc /ns /E /ZB /DCOPY:T /R:1 /W:1 /V /TEE