Check remote file existence on multiple Windows servers

Question

I need to check a file status (existing? or last modified date) on multiple remote Windows servers (in LAN). The files are accessible via UNC path. The remote PCs need a user name and password. It's best to be some sort of script.

I am not system admin, but asked to do this by my boss because each of these PCs are host of SQL Server and the file is a backup of database. I am a SQL Server database developer. I was trying to do it using T-SQL, but just found it not geared to do this (although maybe doable).

Are the files on those Windows servers accessible via some shared folder? I.e. do you have an UNC path to access them? Or do you need to use some file transfer protocol (FTP, or whatever)? — Martin Prikryl, Apr 16 '13 at 10:48
Thanks for clarification. Please include this infomation to your question, to make it more clear and useful for other readers. — Martin Prikryl, Apr 16 '13 at 11:16

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:32

1

Create a batch file like (say check.bat):

@echo off

set list=server1 server2 server3 server4 serverN

for %%s in (%list%) do (
    echo Logging in to %%s
    net use \\%%s\shared /user:mydomain\myuser password    

    echo Checking file existence on %%s
    if exist \\%%s\shared\file.txt (
        echo File exist on %%s
    ) else (
        echo File does NOT exist on %%s
    )

    echo Logging out
    net use \\%%s\shared /delete
)

For details on the net use commands, see the accepted answer for question Mapping a network drive without hardcoding a drive letter in a batch file.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:32

Community

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answered Apr 16 '13 at 10:55

Martin Prikryl

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Thanks for the reply. is myuser the username, and password the password ? And you mean save this to a .cmd file then run? The screen disappeared immediately after run, so how can I know the result? I am really rookie on this – thotwielder Apr 16 '13 at 11:40
Username/password: Yes. Save to .cmd: Yes. Disapearing: You can put `pause` command at the end. But you probably want to do do some action, when file exists or not (instead of `echo File exists`). You have not specified this. Please, accept the answer, if it helped you. Thanks. – Martin Prikryl Apr 16 '13 at 11:49
I need it to loop through all remote servers so that I can get a list of some kind of which server has the file or not. – thotwielder Apr 16 '13 at 12:40
I have updated the answer to show how to re-use the batch for many servers. – Martin Prikryl Apr 16 '13 at 12:49
do you have some kind of script for the looping? There are more than one hundred servers. I really think there should be some way to do a looping of some kind? Can you tell me where I can find the reference to this (not sure the name) windows scripting? I will mark it as answer. – thotwielder Apr 16 '13 at 12:51
I have updated the answer to use looping. But you need to have a list of servers somewhere anyway. Or are the server numbered? – Martin Prikryl Apr 16 '13 at 13:07

Check remote file existence on multiple Windows servers

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