FREE DOS batch file schedule to delete files older than XX days by last access date
I have public FTP Server on my intranet, hence facing issue to become hard disk quota full
frequently. It was vary tedious job to find and delete files every few days.
I try to find some free atomized Softwares / DOS batch script file which find and delete old files but all were
based on last modified date but I required to delete only those file which have not accessed
by any ftp user since last 30 days.
Batch File which find and delete files not accessed since last 30 days from folder and
sub-folders / directories recursively.
Call batch file with following parameters and Schedule every Saturday night :
prompt :> Drive:\batch_file_name.bat “FULL_FOLDER_PATH” DAYS
Example : Prompt:> C:\deleteoldfiles.bat “G:\FTPROOT” 30
Batch file name = here it is delete_old_files.bat stored at C:\
PATH = Folder name where I want to find and delete old files : G:\FTPROOT
Days = number of days. here it is 30
(i.e. it will find files which are not accessed / used since last 30 days)
Pre-Requirement in following example:
SYSTEM SHORT DATE FORMAT SHOULD BE “dd/MM/yyyy”
DATE DELIMITER IS “/”
Above both requirement is only for following ready-to-use script,
which can be change by tweaks batch file script.
::BATCH FILE FOR DELETE OLD FILES NOT ACCESSED BY LAST XX DAYS -
::REQUIREMENTS : SYSTEM SHORT DATE FORMAT SHOULD BE dd/MM/yyyy WITH DATE DELIMITER IS /
@ECHO OFF
:: FIRST ARGS MUST BE THE PATH TO THE DIRECTORY TO PURGE
:: SECOND ARGS MUST BE A NUMBER OF DAYS
IF [%1] == [] ( GOTO :MISSING ) ELSE ( SET PURGE_DIR=%1 )
IF [%2] == [] ( GOTO :MISSING ) ELSE ( SET DAY_LIMIT=%2 )
:: WE GET THE PC LOCAL DATE DELIMITER (In our system it is - contrib from Mike Bikoulis)
FOR /F "skip=2 tokens=3" %%y IN ('REG QUERY "HKCU\Control Panel\International" /v sDate') DO (
SET DATE_DELIM=%%y
)
:: WE CHECK THE PC LOCAL SHORT DATE FORMAT (In our system it is dd-MMM-yy / dd-MM-yyyy)
FOR /F "skip=4 tokens=2* delims= " %%y IN ('REG QUERY "HKCU\Control Panel\International" /v sShortDate') DO (
IF NOT "%%z" == "dd%DATE_DELIM%MM%DATE_DELIM%yyyy" GOTO :DATEFORMAT
)
:: SET CURRENT DATE MINUS DAYS ARGUMENT
SET YEAR=%DATE:~6,4%
SET MONTH=%DATE:~3,2%
SET DAY=%DATE:~0,2%
IF %MONTH:~0,1% EQU 0 ( SET MONTH=%MONTH:~1,1% )
IF %DAY:~0,1% EQU 0 ( SET DAY=%DAY:~1,1% )
SET /A LIMIT_UNIX_TIMESTAMP = (((%YEAR% * 365) + (%MONTH% * 31) + %DAY%) * 24 * 60 ) - ( %DAY_LIMIT% * 24 * 60 )
:: PARSE THE DIRECTORY TO PURGE THEN CHECK FILES ON THEIR LAST ACCESS DATE
FOR /F "usebackq delims=" %%a IN (`DIR /A:-D /B /S %PURGE_DIR%`) DO (
SET CURRENT_FILE=%%a
IF EXIST "%%a" (
:: ECHO ---------------------------------------------------------
ECHO TEST "%%a"
FOR /F "usebackq skip=5 tokens=1" %%b IN (`DIR /T:A "%%a"`) DO (
CALL :TESTSTRING %%b
)
)
)
GOTO :END
:: GET FILE LAST ACCESS DATE
:TESTSTRING
FOR /F "tokens=1-3 delims=%DATE_DELIM%" %%c IN ("%1") DO (
IF NOT [%%e] == [] (
CALL :TESTDATE %%e %%d %%c
)
)
GOTO :END
:: TEST DATE WITH LIMIT_UNIX_TIMESTAMP
:: DELETE TOO OLD FILES, WE COULD DO AN ERASE BUT IT'S LESS SECURE
:TESTDATE
SET YEAR=%1
SET MONTH=%2
SET DAY=%3
IF %MONTH:~0,1% EQU 0 ( SET MONTH=%MONTH:~1,1% )
IF %DAY:~0,1% EQU 0 ( SET DAY=%DAY:~1,1% )
SET /A FILE_UNIX_TIMESTAMP = ((%YEAR% * 365) + (%MONTH% * 31) + (%DAY% * 1 )) * 24 * 60
:: ECHO FILE_UNIX_TIMESTAMP = %FILE_UNIX_TIMESTAMP%
:: ECHO LIMIT_UNIX_TIMESTAMP = %LIMIT_UNIX_TIMESTAMP%
IF %FILE_UNIX_TIMESTAMP% LSS %LIMIT_UNIX_TIMESTAMP% (
IF EXIST "%CURRENT_FILE%" (
ECHO DELETE "%CURRENT_FILE%"
DEL /Q /F "%CURRENT_FILE%"
)
)
GOTO :END
:MISSING
ECHO USE : %0 [PATH] [DAYS]
GOTO :END
:DATEFORMAT
ECHO THIS PC HAS MUST HAVE A SHORT DATE FORMAT LIKE dd%DATE_DELIM%MM%DATE_DELIM%yyyy
GOTO :END
:END
Once above script run completed, all old files will be delete. Now there is change that that is lots of
empty folder because old file deleted. Read my blog for DOS Script to delete empty folders.
Schedule to delete empty folder too.
