Count files in a network folder using PowerShell

Question

I've searched numerous MSDN/Technet and StackOverflow articles regarding this but I can't find a solution to my problem. SO references below.

I am trying to run a script on my server that simply counts the files in a folder on a network location.

I can get it working if it's a local folder, and I can get it working when I map the network drive. However I can't use a network drive because I'll be running this script from a web interface that doesn't have a user account (local drives work fine).

My script is:

$Files = Get-ChildItem \\storage\folder -File  
$Files.count

I get the error:

Get-ChildItem : Cannot find path '\\storage\folder' because it does not exist.

[0]open folder from Network with Powershell
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You can't enumerate files on a share without having access to the share. Map a drive using explicit credentials, or grant the user running the code (usually the webserver service account) access to the share. Either way this is off topic on SO. — Ansgar Wiechers, Jul 16 '14 at 17:13
Can you please explain why this is off topic for SO? I found very similar questions on SO. — malnourish, Jul 16 '14 at 18:21
It's a system management problem rather than a programming problem. — Ansgar Wiechers, Jul 16 '14 at 22:39
Fair enough. Which network would you have suggested I post it on? — malnourish, Jul 17 '14 at 14:05
I'd consider [SuperUser](http://superuser.com/) the best place for this kind of question. — Ansgar Wiechers, Jul 17 '14 at 21:48

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 16 '14 at 17:38

Two things that I can think of,

One would be to add -path to your get-childitem call. I tested this on my Powershell and it works fine.

$files = get-childitem -path C:\temp $files.count This returns the number of files in that path.

However I am testing this on a local file. If you are sure it is the remote access part giving you trouble I would suggest trying to set credentials. Besides the get-credentials option, you could also try setting them yourself.

$Credentials = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PsCredential("Username", "password")

Then perhaps you can set the drive and still be able to access your files. Hope that helps.

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 14 '18 at 15:27

0

Try this:

set-location \\\storage\folder\

dir -recurse |  where-object{ $_.PSIsContainer } | ForEach{ Write-Host $_.FullName (dir $_.FullName | Measure-Object).Count }

This will count the number of files in each sub-folder (recurse) and display the full path and count in the output.

edited Jun 14 '18 at 15:27

CodeChimp

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answered Jun 14 '18 at 15:23

Chief_123

1

Count files in a network folder using PowerShell

2 Answers2