Member Avatar for bk_raavi

Hai All,
How to add date to the file at DOS(CMD line).
I would like to use for AutoBackUps on date wise.

Regards

  • 5 Contributors
  • 5 Replies
  • 419 Views
  • 6 Years Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by Saju_C

Dani AI

Generated

Quick summary and recommended approaches for adding the date to a filename from the Windows command line (for automated backups). wanted a DOS/CMD solution; as pointed out, use only characters valid in filenames (avoid / \ : * ? " < > |). Several replies show simple substring tricks that rely on the system %DATE% layout — those can work but are brittle because the date string changes with regional settings and with how a scheduled task runs the script.

A robust, locale-independent batch method uses the OS timestamp returned by WMIC and then builds an ISO-style date (YYYY-MM-DD). Put this in a .bat file (double percent signs are required inside a batch file):

@echo off
for /f "tokens=1 skip=1" %%a in ('wmic os get LocalDateTime') do if not defined LDT set LDT=%%a
set YYYY=%LDT:~0,4%
set MM=%LDT:~4,2%
set DD=%LDT:~6,2%
set FNAME=Backup_%YYYY%-%MM%-%DD%.zip

echo Would create "%FNAME%"
rem Replace the echo with your backup command, for example a compression or copy command.

On systems with PowerShell available, the simplest and most readable option is to ask PowerShell for a formatted date and build the target name there (good for modern Windows and avoids parsing). Example one-liner:

powershell -NoProfile -Command "Compress-Archive -Path 'C:\Data\*' -DestinationPath ('C:\Backups\backup_' + (Get-Date -Format yyyy-MM-dd) + '.zip')"

Practical tips: test first by echoing the filename instead of performing the backup; when scheduled, always use full paths and check the account that runs the task (it may have different locale/settings); avoid characters forbidden in filenames; and remember that in a batch file for variables use %%a but on the interactive prompt use %a. ’s substring approach is fine for quick, local scripts, but for scheduled, multi-machine, or long-lived automation prefer the WMIC or PowerShell patterns above.

Recommended Answers

All 5 Replies

Member Avatar for MartyMcFly

Are you trying to use / or . or \ . You can't use these in dos or windows as part of a file name.

Use something like Backup060405.

Hope I actually understood your problem there.

Member Avatar for Thong_Ispector

I wrote a program to do that a few years back. It would create a filename using the current date. It was easy to set the parameters of the backup to whatever files I wanted to save in the backup. I will try to find it and make it available.

I do remember looking for a program to do it and did not have much luck.
It also turned out to be harder to write than I expected... About 8 pages...

I'll check around for it.

Sorry, I just re-read your post, you want to run your DOS backup on specific dates not include the date in the filename...

Do you want this to be a TSR terminate and stay resident?
or
Are you planing to put this into the autoexec.bat and check the date on boot?

Member Avatar for MartyMcFly

I see what you meant, sorry.

Member Avatar for jntfoster

This is the easiest way i have found. This works natively with Windows and you don't have to download anything or install any scripts.

Member Avatar for Saju_C

Hi,
With ref to
I would like share how I generated a file with date as filename.
In my environment (it varies according to your environment), my date command output is mm/dd/yyyy
eg: 11/01/2011

So to generate a filename with yyyy-mm-dd, I used following command

echo > %date:~6,4%-%date:~0,2%-%date:~3,2%.txt

So the output is 2011-11-01.txt

to elaborate %date:~6,4% --> From left, the cursor is moved six characters right and displayed only next four characters.

Another method is to change the date format of the system from Regional and Language options. i.e Change the date separator from "/" to "-" and required date format.

~~SAJU~~

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.