I want to access a remote SMB network share \\SHARE-HOST\ without mapping a drive letter. I can manually do it in windows by typing \\SHARE-HOST\Share_folder\ in explorer. If I want to do it programatically I have to use the net use command. This requires me to specify a letter.
Windows – Access network share without mapping drive letter (PowerShell)
drivenetwork-sharepowershellwindows
Related Solutions
Just to map a network share directory you would use this command:
net use \\Server\ShareName\Directory
This mapping would:
- not be persistent
- would have to be established and authenticated at user login
- you would access the share using the UNC path, and not a local drive letter
If you want to access the network share through a location on your local C: drive, you'll want to set up a symbolic link:
mklink /d C:\Folder\ShareName \\Server\ShareName\Directory
Now when you navigate to C:\Folder\Share you'll see the contents of \\\Server\Sharename\Directory. You'll still need to provide authentication for the resource with something like net use (or just be logged into a domain account on a domain system that has access) otherwise the link will probably error out angrily.
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Best Answer
PowerShell fully supports UNC paths; you can use them everywhere a directory or file name would be expected:
Set-Location \\servername\sharenameGet-ChildItem \\servername\sharenameCopy-Item \\servername1\sharename1\filename.ext \\servername2\sharename2Remove-Item \\servername\sharename\foldername\filename.extHowever, you need proper access rights to actually connect to the remote share; this means either your user account must already have the required permissions, or you must manually establish a network connection to the remote server before accessing folders and files on it.
See also here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/303045/connecting-to-a-network-folder-with-username-password-in-powershell.