PowerShell: Upload files recursively to FTP server, creating any directory if it does not exist (without try catch)

Question

I am writing a PowerShell script which will be executed at timely intervals, which will grab any content of a specific directory + sub-directories and upload a copy of it, to an FTP server.

In case file already exist on the server, it will overwrite.
In case the directory does not exist on the server, it will be created.

I have achieved most of what I need it to do but am stuck on the sub-directory creation if not exist part.

The code I have is this, although not really clean yet.

function UploadFilesInDirectory($RemoteDestination, $LocalSource) {
    $local_files = Get-ChildItem $LocalSource

    foreach ($local_file in $local_files)
    {
        $isDirectory = (Get-Item $local_file.FullName) -is [System.IO.DirectoryInfo]

        if ($isDirectory) 
        {
            UploadFilesInDirectory -RemoteDestination "$RemoteDestination" -LocalSource "$LocalSource\$local_file"
        } 
        else 
        {
            Write-Host "Uploading $local_file"

            $desinationPath = $LocalSource.Replace("$local_backup\", "")
            $desinationPath = "$remote_connection$desinationPath\$local_file".Replace("\", "/")

            $webclient.UploadFile("$desinationPath", $file.FullName )   
        }
    }
}

Any help will be appreciated.

Look at [this](https://gist.github.com/dkittell/f029b6c7d1c46ebcffcb) example. — nemze, May 16 '19 at 12:58
Is there another way though, as I prefer to not use try catch statements? — Clayton C, May 16 '19 at 13:32
So ask a question on *"creating directory if it does not exist without using try catch statements"* and not a broad question as you did. — Martin Prikryl, May 18 '19 at 09:57
@MartinPrikryl I was replying to nemze comment, at time of creating this question I was not aware that try catch can be used to check ftp directory existence. — Clayton C, May 19 '19 at 10:04

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered May 19 '19 at 14:37

I do not think it's possible to effectively check for FTP directory/file existence with plain .NET/PowerShell functionality without using try/catch.

Either you need to use FtpWebRequest features to check for existence, but you have to use try/catch:
Check file existence on FTP server in PowerShell

I do not think it's that bad (if you factor out the test to a function).
Or you need to use 3rd party FTP module/library/assembly/tool. E.g. my WinSCP .NET assembly. This is also covered in my answer to
Check file existence on FTP server in PowerShell
Or you need to use something like ListDirectory to retrieve whole parent directory listing, parse it and look for the directory you are after. That's quite ineffective.

Thanks for this, I'll have a look at the first 2 options you provided as these are more interesting for my needs, especially that 2nd option. Thanks! — Clayton C, May 20 '19 at 08:54

PowerShell: Upload files recursively to FTP server, creating any directory if it does not exist (without try catch)

1 Answers1