Script running fine locally but throwing error while running on server

userZ7bD 0
Viewed 67

Sorry but I checked all the other post similar to this, but could not find the working solution.

error:- Get-ChildItem : A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name 'File'.

I want to delete files older than 30 days from folder and sub folder. Script running fine locally but throwing error while running on server. powershell version is 5. Any help is appreciated! script:-

Get-ChildItem –Path "D:\file\source" –Include *.* -File -Recurse | Where-Object {($_.LastWriteTime -lt (Get-Date).AddDays(-30))} | Remove-Item
powershell
2 Answers

tl;dr

If your server is running a PowerShell version greater than or equal to 3.0 - which you report to be the case (v5.1) - the implication is that your server has no D: drive or, at least hypothetically, that D: is not a file-system drive, but backed by a different PowerShell provider.

The resulting error message, A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name 'File', is unfortunate in that it misleadingly suggests a syntax error, which isn't the case here.

While it is true that the -File switch parameter (along with -Directory) wasn't available until version 3 of PowerShell, the error message you saw - A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name 'File' - can situationally also occur in later versions, because it is a so-called dynamic parameter that is specific to the PowerShell's FileSystem provider.

That is, the -File parameter is not available if you combine it with:

  • a path based on a drive whose provider is a provider other than the FileSystem provider (with relative paths, the drive is implied by the current location)

  • a path referencing a drive that doesn't exist.

The resulting error message (quoted above) does not distinguish between those two cases (and cannot, because a non-existent drive cannot be assumed to be a file-system drive in PowerShell).

An easy way to provoke the error is with the following command:
Get-ChildItem variable:* -File

Arguably, a better error message would be something along the lines of: -File is only applicable to file-system paths. However, given the open-ended nature of PowerShell's provider architecture:

  • A complete, but expensive solution would require knowing the dynamic, provider-specific parameters across all providers, and reporting any unknown parameter that happens to be a different provider's dynamic parameter as such.

  • Conceivably, to lessen the cost, hard-coded errors for -File and -Directory only could be implemented, given that file-system provider operations are by far the most common ones.

mklement00

Here is a delete function that I use. I confirmed that it will run on the 5.1 Powershell you are using:

function DeleteOldFiles {
    param (
        [string]$file
    )
    Remove-Item -Path $file
}

Set-Location 'D:\file\source'
    
    $fileList = Get-ChildItem -Depth 1 | Where-Object {$_.PSIsContainer -eq $false -and $_.LastWriteTime -lt (Get-Date).AddDays(-30)}

    foreach($f in $fileList)
    {
        DeleteOldFiles -file $f.FullName
    }
dtadams790
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