PowerShell compare content in files in subfolders

Question

I have confiuration files on two servers. The configurations need to be compared across multiple directories and sub-directories.

$FirstPath =  "C:\Users\me\Desktop\server001"
$SecondPath = "C:\Users\me\Desktop\server002"
$FirstComp = Get-ChildItem -Recurse –Path $FirstPath -Filter *.config -Name
$SecondComp = Get-ChildItem -Recurse –Path $SecondPath -Filter *.config -Name

Compare-Object -ReferenceObject (Get-Content -Path $FirstComp) -DifferenceObject (Get-Content -Path $SecondComp)

If i specify a single file in the -Path statment it works correctly. If I enter $FirstComp or $SecondComp they return the file structure and show the information as expected. I have tried it using a ForEach-Object and a few other ways, but no luck.

Strangely, I get an error message that references the system32 directory that I am not trying to reference, Or that the variable is Null .

I am also hoping to eventually be able to do some error handling if the -Difference-Object is missing.

Get-Content : Cannot find path 'C:\WINDOWS\system32\Web\Wcf\Web.config' because it does not 
exist.
At line:1 char:77
+ ...  (Get-Content $FirstComp) -DifferenceObject (Get-Content $SecondComp)
+                                                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (C:\WINDOWS\syst...\Wcf\Web.config:String) [Get-Content], ItemNotFoundException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : PathNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetContentCommand
 
Compare-Object : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'ReferenceObject' because it is null.
At line:1 char:33
+ Compare-Object -ReferenceObject (Get-Content $FirstComp) -DifferenceO ...
+                                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidData: (:) [Compare-Object], ParameterBindingValidationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.CompareObjectCommand
 

Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

You should compare your files by one by one, not within array.

$FirstPath  = "C:\Users\me\Desktop\server001"
$SecondPath = "C:\Users\me\Desktop\server002"
$FirstComp  = Get-ChildItem -Recurse –Path $FirstPath -Filter *.config -Name
$SecondComp = Get-ChildItem -Recurse –Path $SecondPath -Filter *.config -Name
foreach ( $Config1 in $FirstComp ){
    $SubPath1 = $Config1.fullname.replace($FirstPath, '')
    foreach ( $Config2 in $SecondComp ){
        $SubPath2 = $Config1.fullname.replace($SecondPath, '')
        if ( $SubPath1 -eq $SubPath2 ){
            Compare-Object -ReferenceObject ( Get-Content -Path $Config1 ) -DifferenceObject ( Get-Content -Path $Config2 )
        }
    }
}