Return
-
Title
How to simplify large Folder and file recovery with permissions using Robocopy and Powershell -
Description
Recovering large folders and files with permissions may be a difficult task. Although Rapid Recovery has a "copy with permissions" feature in the mouse context, sometimes it makes sense to use robocopy.exe (which is an application built into windows). However, since robocopy is a command line application with multiple options which may seem cryptic, using a powershell wrapper with GUI elements for selecting the various locations and the actual folders and files to be copied may prove helpful. -
Resolution
A Powershell script with the following features has been created.1. The folder on the mounted recovery point to be restored is selected using a .Net Windows.Forms FolderBrowserDialog (i.e. c:\Mounts\C__\Data)2. Once the folder is selected, the folders and files containing it are listed in a Gridview. The user can select those he wants restored.3. The destination Folder for the restore is selected using a .Net Windows.Forms FolderBrowserDialog4. The Logs folder -- containing verbose logs for each of the objects copied by Robocopy is selected using a .Net Windows.Forms FolderBrowserDialogThe script can be run in normal mode for smaller jobs and in failsafe mode which is recommended for large jobs.Switching between the two modes is done by launching the script with the -failsafe parameter for failsafe settings or without any parameters for the normal mode.Once the script is launched the user is prompted to choose the elements mentioned at #1 to #4. If the script is launched in normal mode, the full information regarding the restore operation is shown on the screen and committed to logs. In failsafe mode, only the main objects selected at #2 are shown on the screen but the full data is collected in the logs.Both options restore with the original permissions and, if the destination contains previous similar files, only the permissions are refreshed. This allows interrupted operations to be resumed without copying everything alloveragain.After the restore operation, the logs are consolidated in a file called globallog.txt located in the logs folder and the globallog.txt file is automatically opened on the screen. This allows quickly identifying the possible errors. The individual logs are kept as well.Help for the script is available by running:get-help robocopy3.ps1The code is presented below between horizontal lines and attached to the KB._____________________________________________________<#.SynopsisPowershell Wrapper for copying with permissions using Robocopy.DescriptionMount the recovery points in a folder with a short name (i.e. c:\M\C__). This needs to be done in order to reduce the length of Windows Path Files..Parameter failsafeThe script uses fail-safe values. Use it for large restores..Examplerobocopy3.ps1 -failsafe#>param ([switch]$failsafe=$false)Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Windows.FormsclsWrite-Host "Restore Files with Permissions using Robocopy`r`n_____________________________________________`r`n"#Select root object to restore$s = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.FolderBrowserDialog -Property @{Description = "Select the root folder to Restore:"; ShowNewFolderButton=$false}$s.selectedpath = "c:\"if (!($s.ShowDialog( )-eq [System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult]::OK)){Write-Host "Exiting..." -f yellow; Exit}$sourcefolder = $s.SelectedPath$zsources = @()$xsourceobjects = get-childitem -path $sourcefolderforeach($sourceobject in $xsourceobjects){if ($sourceobject.psiscontainer){$label="Folder";$size=""}else{$label="File";$size=("{0:N2} KB" -f $($sourceobject.Length/1KB))}$line=[pscustomobject]@{Type=$label;Name=$sourceobject.Name;Created=$sourceobject.CreationTime;LastWritten=$sourceobject.LastWriteTime;LastAccessed=$sourceobject.LastAccessTime;Size=$size;Path=$sourceobject.FullName}$zsources += $line}$sources = $zsources| Out-GridView -Title "Select the objects (folders and/or files) to restore from the root folder:" -PassThruif($sources -eq $null){Write-Host "Exiting..." -f yellow; Exit}#get the list of foldersWrite-Host "`r`n Objects to Restore"$sources | ft -AutoSize -Wrap#set the destination$d = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.FolderBrowserDialog -Property @{Description = "Select or Create the destination folder:"; ShowNewFolderButton=$true}$d.selectedpath = "c:\"if (!($d.ShowDialog( )-eq [System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult]::OK)){Write-Host "Exiting..." -f yellow; Exit}$xdestination = $d.SelectedPathWrite-Host "Destination Folder: $xdestination"#set the log path$L = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.FolderBrowserDialog -Property @{Description = "Select or Create the Logs folder. Must be empty"; ShowNewFolderButton=$true}$L.selectedpath = "c:\"if (!($L.ShowDialog( )-eq [System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult]::OK)){Write-Host "Exiting..." -f yellow; Exit}$rootlogfile = $L.SelectedPathWrite-Host "Logs Folder: $rootlogfile`r`n"#process foldersforeach ($sr in $Sources){if($sr -ne $null){$source=$sr.path$destination = "$($xdestination)\$($sr.name)"$logfile = ("$($rootlogfile)\LOG_$($sr.name).txt").replace(" ",".")if ($sr.type -eq "Folder"){$wildcard = "*.*";$emptydir="/E";}else{$wildcard=$sr.name;$emptydir=""; $source = Split-path $sr.path -parent; $destination= "$xdestination"}if (!($failsafe)){#High Resource Robocopy Command Linerobocopy.exe $source $destination $wildcard /B $emptydir /CopyAll /SecFix /MT:16 /Log:$logfile /V /FP /ETA /Tee /R:1}else {#Low Resource Robocopy Command Linerobocopy.exe $source $destination $wildcard /B $emptydir /CopyAll /SecFix /MT:4 /Log:$logfile /V /FP /ETA /R:1}}}#global log$logs = get-childitem $rootlogfileWrite-Host "`r`nConsolidating Logs...`r`n" -f Yellowforeach ($log in $logs){$log.Name$z = get-content $log.FullName$z >> "$rootlogfile\GlobalLog.txt"}Invoke-Item "$rootlogfile\GlobalLog.txt"_____________________________________________________ALTERNATE METHOD:*NOTE: The Paste with Permissions command is installed with Rapid Recovery Core and Agent. It is not available in the Local Mount Utility.To restore a directory or file and preserve permissions using Windows Explorer1. Mount the recovery point that contains the data you want to restore. For details, see Mounting a Recovery Point for a Windows Machine.2. In Windows Explorer, navigate to the mounted recovery point and select the directories and files that you want to restore. Right-click and select Copy.3. In Windows Explorer, navigate to the machine location to where you want to restore the data. Right-click and select Paste with Permissions.*NOTE: In this step, if the Paste with Permissions command is disabled on the right-click menu, then Windows Explorer is not aware of the files that you want to copy. Repeat Step 2 to enable the Paste with Permissions command on the right-click menu.