Deleting files from backup drive

Question

Deleting files from backup drive

SQL_Hunt

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Points: 33518
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December 16, 2016 at 11:59 am

#316017

Hi
I am calling this below command from .cmd batch file as I have no SQL Agent (express edition). But getting the below error while I try to run that in command prompt.
What is the cause of the error? Is this a syntactical error?
forfiles -p "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\Backup\" -s -m *.bak -d -5 -c "cmd /c del @path"
Error:
ERROR: Invalid argument/option - '@path'.
Type "FORFILES /?" for usage.
Thanks.
December 18, 2016 at 9:39 pm

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sgmunson SSC Guru Points: 110640 More actions · Answer 1

SQL-DBA-01 (12/16/2016)
Hi
I am calling this below command from .cmd batch file as I have no SQL Agent (express edition). But getting the below error while I try to run that in command prompt.
What is the cause of the error? Is this a syntactical error?
forfiles -p "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\Backup\" -s -m *.bak -d -5 -c "cmd /c del @path"
Error:
ERROR: Invalid argument/option - '@path'.
Type "FORFILES /?" for usage.

Try using cmd.exe instead of just cmd and see if that makes a difference.

Steve (aka sgmunson) 🙂 🙂 🙂
Rent Servers for Income (picks and shovels strategy)

Lowell SSC Guru Points: 323518 More actions · Answer 2

the example here:

http://ss64.com/nt/syntax-delolder.html

is so close to your version, i'm not sure there's an issue:

the only thing i see is that the example uses slashes instead of hypens for the parameters.

forfiles /p "C:\source_folder" /s /m *.* /c "cmd /c Del @path" /d -7

Lowell

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Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004378 More actions · Answer 3

SQL-DBA-01 (12/16/2016)
Hi
I am calling this below command from .cmd batch file as I have no SQL Agent (express edition). But getting the below error while I try to run that in command prompt.
What is the cause of the error? Is this a syntactical error?
forfiles -p "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\Backup\" -s -m *.bak -d -5 -c "cmd /c del @path"
Error:
ERROR: Invalid argument/option - '@path'.
Type "FORFILES /?" for usage.

You should not be deleting backup files according to the number of days or by date because <insert drum roll here> if something has been going wrong with your backups, you may end up with NO backup files.

You need to make sure that some backup files are present within (according to your code) the 5 days before you go deleting backups that are older than 5 days. Voice of experience here on this one.

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

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