ROBOCOPY.exe (Resource Kit)

Robust File and Folder Copy.
By default Robocopy will only copy a file if the source and destination have different time stamps or different file sizes.

Syntax
      ROBOCOPY source_folder destination_folder [file(s)_to_copy] [options]
Key
   file(s)_to_copy : A list of files or a wildcard.
                          (defaults to copying *.*)

  Source options
                /S : Copy Subfolders
                /E : Copy Subfolders, including Empty Subfolders.
 /COPY:copyflag[s] : What to COPY (default is /COPY:DAT).
                      (copyflags : D=Data, A=Attributes, T=Timestamps).
                      (S=Security=NTFS ACLs, O=Owner info, U=aUditing info).
          /COPYALL : Copy ALL file info (equivalent to /COPY:DATSOU).
           /NOCOPY : Copy NO file info (useful with /PURGE).

                /A : Copy only files with the Archive attribute set.
                /M : like /A, but remove Archive attribute from source files.
            /LEV:n : only copy the top n LEVels of the source tree.

         /MAXAGE:n : MAXimum file AGE - exclude files older than n days/date.
         /MINAGE:n : MINimum file AGE - exclude files newer than n days/date.
                     (If n < 1900 then n = no of days, else n = YYYYMMDD date).

              /FFT : assume FAT File Times (2-second granularity).
              /256 : turn off very long path (> 256 characters) support.

   Copy options
                /L : List only - don't copy, timestamp or delete any files.
              /MOV : MOVe files (delete from source after copying).
             /MOVE : Move files and dirs (delete from source after copying).

                /Z : copy files in restartable mode (survive network glitch).
                /B : copy files in Backup mode.
               /ZB : use restartable mode; if access denied use Backup mode.
            /IPG:n : Inter-Packet Gap (ms), to free bandwidth on slow lines.

              /R:n : number of Retries on failed copies - default is 1 million.
              /W:n : Wait time between retries - default is 30 seconds.
              /REG : Save /R:n and /W:n in the Registry as default settings.

              /TBD : wait for sharenames To Be Defined (retry error 67).

   Destination options

  /A+:[R][A][S][H] : set file Attributes on destination files - add.
  /A-:[R][A][S][H] : set file Attributes on destination files - remove.
              /FAT : create destination files using 8.3 FAT file names only.

           /CREATE : CREATE directory tree structure + zero-length files only.
            /PURGE : delete dest files/folders that no longer exist in source.
              /MIR : MIRror a directory tree - equivalent to /PURGE plus all subfolders (/E)

   Logging options
                /L : List only - don't copy, timestamp or delete any files.
               /NP : No Progress - don't display % copied.
         /LOG:file : output status to LOG file (overwrite existing log).
        /LOG+:file : output status to LOG file (append to existing log).

               /TS : include source file Time Stamps in the output.
               /FP : include Full Pathname of files in the output.
               /NS : No Size - don't log file sizes.
               /NC : No Class - don't log file classes.
              /NFL : No File List - don't log file names.
              /NDL : No Directory List - don't log directory names.
              /TEE : output to console window, as well as the log file.
              /NJH : No Job Header.
              /NJS : No Job Summary.

 Repeated Copy Options
            /MON:n : MONitor source; run again when more than n changes seen.
            /MOT:m : MOnitor source; run again in m minutes Time, if changed.

     /RH:hhmm-hhmm : Run Hours - times when new copies may be started.
               /PF : check run hours on a Per File (not per pass) basis.

 Job Options
      /JOB:jobname : take parameters from the named JOB file.
     /SAVE:jobname : SAVE parameters to the named job file
             /QUIT : QUIT after processing command line (to view parameters). 
             /NOSD : NO Source Directory is specified.
             /NODD : NO Destination Directory is specified.
               /IF : Include the following Files.

Advanced options you'll probably never use
               /XO : eXclude Older - if destination file exists and is the same date
                     or newer than the source - don't bother to overwrite it.
         /XC | /XN : eXclude Changed | Newer files
         /XX | /XL : eXclude eXtra | Lonely files and dirs. 
                     An "extra" file is present in destination but not source, 
                     excluding extras will delete from destination. 
                     A "lonely" file is present in source but not destination
                     excluding lonely will prevent any new files being added to the destination.
               /IS : Overwrite files even if they are already the same.

/XF file [file]... : eXclude Files matching given names/paths/wildcards.
/XD dirs [dirs]... : eXclude Directories matching given names/paths.
                     XF and XD can be used in combination  e.g.
                     ROBOCOPY c:\source d:\dest /XF *.doc *.xls /XD c:\unwanted /S 

            /MAX:n : MAXimum file size - exclude files bigger than n bytes.
            /MIN:n : MINimum file size - exclude files smaller than n bytes.

               /IT : Include Tweaked files.
               /XJ : eXclude Junction points. (normally included by default).
         /MAXLAD:n : MAXimum Last Access Date - exclude files unused since n.
         /MINLAD:n : MINimum Last Access Date - exclude files used since n.
                     (If n < 1900 then n = n days, else n = YYYYMMDD date).

  /XA:[R][A][S][H] : eXclude files with any of the given Attributes
  /IA:[R][A][S][H] : Include files with any of the given Attributes

                /X : report all eXtra files, not just those selected & copied.
                /V : produce Verbose output log, showing skipped files.
              /ETA : show Estimated Time of Arrival of copied files.

Syntax on this page is for the XP and .Net Version of Robocopy (XP010)
The NT 4 and Windows 2000 resource kits include Robocopy 1.95 but I recommend you download the XP version which fixes a number of bugs - it runs fine on NT/2K.

Robocopy does not run on Windows 95, or NT 3.5. (RoboCopy is a Unicode application).

ROBOCOPY will accept UNC pathnames.

Examples:

:: Copy files from one server to another
ROBOCOPY \\Server1\reports \\Server2\backup *.doc /S /NP

:: List all files over 32 MBytes in size
ROBOCOPY C:\work\ /MAX:33554432 /L

:: Move files over 14 days old
ROBOCOPY C:\work\ C:\destination\ /move /minage:14
:: Note the MOVE option will fail if any files are open and locked.

:: The script below copies data from FileServ1 to FileServ2, the destination holds a full mirror (all files), but when run repeatedly will only copy changed files. (Changed meaning different time stamps or different sizes)

@ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL

SET _source=\\FileServ1\e$\users\

SET _dest=\\FileServ2\e$\BackupUsers\

SET _what=/COPYALL /B /SEC /MIR
:: /COPYALL :: COPY ALL file info
:: /B :: copy files in Backup mode.
:: /SEC :: copy files with SECurity
:: /MIR :: MIRror a directory tree

SET _options=/R:0 /W:0 /LOG:MyLogfile.txt /NFL /NDL
:: /R:n :: number of Retries
:: /W:n :: Wait time between retries
:: /LOG :: Output log file
:: /NFL :: No file logging
:: /NDL :: No dir logging

ROBOCOPY %_source% %_dest% %_what% %_options%

"The first 90% of a project takes 90% of the time, the last 10% takes the other 90% of the time" - Murphy's Law

Related Commands:

COPY - Copy one or more files to another location
SCOPY - Copy complete with NTFS Security Permissions
XCOPY - Copy files and folders
Fcopy - File Copy for MMQ (copy changed files & compress. (Win 2K ResKit)
Permcopy - Copy share & file ACLs from one share to another. (Win 2K ResKit)
Q323275 - Copy Security information (/SECFIX)
Jsiinc.com - Using robocopy for Directory Replication.

Equivalent Linux BASH commands:

rsync - Remote file copy (Synchronize file trees)