Use spaces in smbclient mkdir

Question

I'm trying to use smbclient in a bash script to make a directory on a remote windows server.

Whilst this works:

smbclient -U "DOMAIN/$username" "//remoteserver/folder with spaces" --directory "Another folder with spaces/" -c "mkdir /newfolder/"

This doesn't:

smbclient -U "DOMAIN/$username" "//remoteserver/folder with spaces" --directory "Another folder with spaces/" -c "mkdir /folder to create with spaces/"

Instead a folder simply called 'folder' is created. I've tried many variations like the following:

"mkdir /folder\ to\ create\ with\ spaces/"
"mkdir '/folder to create with spaces/'"
'mkdir '/folder to create with spaces/''

but can't seem to find the magic combination.

The escape char isn't /, it is \. So give `mkdir '/folder\ to\ create\ with\ spaces'` a try. — Panki, Apr 09 '19 at 11:46
Apologies - mistake in my question write up - I did try \ not / - question updated. — Chris Nevill, Apr 09 '19 at 11:56
What is the difference supposed to be between the 2nd and the 4th? (-: — JdeBP, Apr 09 '19 at 12:53

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 09 '19 at 12:12

6

These options should work:

-c 'mkdir "folder to create with spaces"'
-c "mkdir \"folder to create with spaces\""

answered Apr 09 '19 at 12:12

Freddy

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How do you escape a `"` in a filename, I didn't find how to do it... – Fravadona Dec 10 '21 at 21:03

Use spaces in smbclient mkdir

1 Answers1