Most SFTP servers do not support remote file duplication either.
If your SFTP indeed does not support the duplication, you either have to download and reupload the file, or use shell interface (if available) instead.

This is what I have so far:
$BackupSource = $fileInfo.FullName
$BackupTarget = "//chroothome/xxxx/ftproot/Kevin-Test/Draft/" + $fileInfo.Name
$session.DuplicateFile($BackupSource, $BackupTarget)

But, I keep getting the following error:
Error: Exception calling "DuplicateFile" with "2" argument(s): "Operation not supported."

I found this link (https://winscp.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26284), and I'm sure I'm connecting via sftp. I also tried manually typing out the paths for $session.DuplicateFile, but no luck.

You cannot use Copy-Item cmdlet. You have to use Session.DuplicateFile method:
https://winscp.net/eng/docs/library_session_duplicatefile

Thank you for all your help Martin, I finally got the files to rename!

The last thing I'm trying to do now is create a copy/backup before renaming the files. The files are located in my /Kevin-Test folder and I want to copy them into my /Kevin-Test/draft folder. However, I am having trouble getting the files to copy.

I'm trying to use the following code (it's also the first line within my foreach loop); but it doesn't seem to work:
Copy-Item $fileinfo.FullName -Destination "//chroothome/xxxx/ftproot/Kevin-Test/draft"

and I get the following error:
copy-item : Cannot find path '//chroothome/xxxx/ftproot/Kevin-Test/Snfhc_users.080517090840.txt' because it does not exist.
At C:\Users\kdang\Desktop\File rename.ps1:33 char:13
+ copy-item $BackupFile -Destination "//chroothome/xxxx ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (//chroothome/sn...80517090840.txt:String) [Copy-Item], ItemNotFoundException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : PathNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.CopyItemCommand

It seems like it's trying to search on my local computer, but I need it to search on the server. Am I targeting the file on the server incorrectly? For example: how would I target the file //chroothome/xxxx/ftproot/Kevin-Test/File123.txt within my session? Also, is (powershell) "copy-item" the correct command to use?

Thank you in advance,
Kevin D

Your code is probably failing on . and .. entries in the listing. You need to skip those.

A simple way to do that is by replacing this:



with:

I finally got the script to connect to the session (yes!). However, I encounter the following error: "Error: Exception calling "Substring" with "2" argument(s): "Index and length must refer to a location within the string.
Parameter name: length"

I was able to test the renaming logic portion of the code without issue in powershell (using $FullArray = $FileName.split("."), but when I run it with the sftp configuration, I get the above error. So I'm assuming that I'm calling/using some of the WinSCP Assembly incorrectly.

For example: $directory = $session.ListDirectory("/home/martin/public_html"), does that mean $directory is an array type variable?
Also, am I using the proper path to select files/folders on the server? That could explain why it keeps saying Index and length must refer to a location within the string.

Thanks again!
-Kevin

====================================================================
try
{
# Load WinSCP .NET assembly
Add-Type -Path 'C:\Program Files (x86)\WinSCP\WinSCPnet.dll'

# Setup session options
$sessionOptions = New-Object WinSCP.SessionOptions -Property @{
Protocol = [WinSCP.Protocol]::sftp
HostName = "hostname.com"
UserName = "user"
Password = "password"
PortNumber = 2223
SshHostKeyFingerprint = "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
}

$session = New-Object WinSCP.Session

try
{
# Connect
$session.Open($sessionOptions)

$directory = $session.ListDirectory("/chroothome/xxxx/ftproot/Kevin-Test")

foreach ($fileInfo in $directory.Files)
{
#Copy file to draft folder for backup
Copy-Item $fileinfo.FullName -Destination "/chroothome/xxxx/ftproot/Kevin-Test/draft"

#Assigns filename to a variable to use for name processing
$FileName = $fileInfo.Name

#Splits FileName into 3 strings by delimiter "."
$FullArray = $FileName.split(".")

#Decreases length of FullArray[1] to desired length
$FullArray[1] = $FullArray[1].substring(0,8)

#Turns Date into a single Char array
$DateArray = $FullArray[1].ToCharArray()

#Converts MMDDYY to MMDDYYYY
$year1 = $DateArray[4]
$year2 = $DateArray[5]
$DateArray[4] = "2"
$DateArray[5] = "0"
$DateArray[6] = $year1
$DateArray[7] = $year2

#Joins DateArray back into a single string
$FullArray[1] = $DateArray -join ""

#Adds proper separators inbetween the strings
$FullArray = $FullArray[0] + "_" + $FullArray[1] + "." + $FullArray[2]

#Parameters: (String Source path, string target path) Path to new location and Name to move/rename the file to
$session.MoveFile($fileInfo.FullName, "/chroothome/xxxx/ftproot/Kevin-Test" + $FullArray)
}
}

finally
{
# Disconnect, clean up
$session.Dispose()
}

exit 0
}
catch
{
Write-Host "Error: $($_.Exception.Message)"
exit 1
}

Use this example to retrieve a list of files to rename:
https://winscp.net/eng/docs/library_session_listdirectory#powershell

Then for each file do your logic on $fileInfo.Name and call

https://winscp.net/eng/docs/library_session_movefile

Hello everyone, thank you in advance!

I was tasked to automate renaming/formatting file names on a SFTP server.
I have one system that uploads a file(s) to the server and then another system picks up that file to be processed. However since the filename is not in the correct format, the second system is unable to process the files.

I've written a powershell script (attached below) on how I want the filenames to be formatted/renamed. However I am having difficulty implementing it (Connecting to the SFTP server and running the script). I'm extremely unfamiliar with Winscp (I only stumbled onto it because of the given task), and also SFTP for that matter, so any help would be greatly appreciated