Remove/delete files owned by external Google Accounts

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Thomas Prescott

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Apr 13, 2022, 4:15:20 PM4/13/22
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I'm trying to migrate 100k+ files and folders from "My Drive" to a Shared Drive. I'm running in to an issue where I'm not able to move files owned by external accounts (this is expected behavior). What I'd like to do is remove my access from the roughly 45K files that are owned externally.

I have all of the file IDs in CSV format, but get the error below when trying to delete permission IDs via GAM (presumably because the file ID is owned externally).

User: da...@mydomain.com, Drive File/Folder ID: 1agQdOqFbAtT-XXXXXXXXXX, Permission ID: 048536-XXXXXXXXXX, Does not exist

Any ideas on how to mass-remove myself from all files shared to me?

Any/all help is appreciated.

Tom

Ross Scroggs

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Apr 13, 2022, 4:25:44 PM4/13/22
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Tom,

Contact me directly via Meet/Zoom.

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Ross Scroggs

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Apr 13, 2022, 4:35:42 PM4/13/22
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Tom,

Show the command you're issuing.

On Apr 13, 2022, at 1:15 PM, Thomas Prescott <thomas....@project.com> wrote:

Thomas Prescott

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Apr 13, 2022, 4:39:55 PM4/13/22
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Ross - 

I can't do a Google Meet tonight, but can chat tomorrow if that works. The command I'm running is below:

gam user da...@domain.com delete drivefileacl ~fileID ~permissionID

da...@domain.com is not the owner of these files - they are all owned externally (e.g. @gmail.com)

Tom Prescott
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Ross Scroggs

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Apr 13, 2022, 4:45:16 PM4/13/22
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Tom,

If the permissionId column does not have id: at the beginning, add it in the command.
Try: gam user da...@domain.com delete drivefileacl ~fileID "id:~~permissionID~~"

What kind of access do you have to the files? If you're a writer, you can delete ACLs; if you're a reader you can't.

Ross

Thomas Prescott

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Apr 14, 2022, 6:58:27 AM4/14/22
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That worked, Ross! Thanks!

Adding id: before permissionID solved the issue. Thanks much.


Tom Prescott
System Administrator

 

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Juarez Weiss

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Jan 24, 2023, 2:16:17 PM1/24/23
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Hi Tom and Ross,

I'd like to revive this thread. I'm trying to achieve the exact result as Tom's first message.

I've managed to run the proper command and successfully delete the ACLs containing myself from the external files. To confirm, I went to Google Drive via UI and checked that no external files exist in the folder.
But when I try to move the folder to a Shared Drive, I get an error "x items can't be moved" and the move fails. The number of "items that can't be moved" is the exact same number of external items that existed prior to me deleting the ACLs, which makes me think that although the ACLs have been delete, the files still somehow exist in the folder.
Also, if I run the command to find external files in the folder again, the csv now returns empty: gam config csv_output_row_filter "owners.0.emailAddress:notregex:@domain.com$" redirect csv ./filelist.csv user myu...@domain.com print filelist select FOLDERID showownedby others fields id,title,permissions,owners.emailaddress

Any pointers here? I'm going crazy trying to understand this lol
Thanks!

Juarez Weiss

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Jan 25, 2023, 9:56:38 AM1/25/23
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Update: I found the "deleted" files in the folder. Although there's no existing permission for my us...@domain.com in the file anymore, if I click "Share" there's a popup saying "Send the link for "file-name"", and it shows that the file has "anyone with the link" as viewer.

Somehow deleting my own ACLs via GAM didn't remove the files from the folder. And the option to "remove" is grayed out, so now the file is dead in my folder with no way to remove it. Seems like a bug?

JoelC

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Jul 17, 2023, 10:34:24 AM7/17/23
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Following, I just ran into the exact same scenario.

Thanks!

Ross Scroggs

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Jul 17, 2023, 10:51:59 AM7/17/23
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Joel,

Send me a Meet/Zoom invitation if you need help.

Ross

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Rachel Hassett

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Aug 24, 2023, 1:31:52 AM8/24/23
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Ross, was it determined that there is actually a way to programmatically Remove an externally owned file from someone's MyDrive? I'm hearing from these comments that the command to remove permissions doesn't actually remove the file from the folder... 
If you know of any way to "Remove" an externally owned file from someone's MyDrive, I (and my users) would be very very very appreciative.

Thanks, Rachel

Ross Scroggs

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Aug 24, 2023, 9:30:28 AM8/24/23
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There is still no way that I know of.

Ross
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Ross Scroggs



Gezira United

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Aug 24, 2023, 9:48:49 AM8/24/23
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Hi rosa
my message deleted automatically when i try to post to google group
do you have any solve iam owner of the group
thanks mohamed

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Tom Robinson

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Oct 19, 2023, 6:38:50 PM10/19/23
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Is this command Advanced GAM or just GAM? 

In our case the file that is owned externally is in one users mydrive but shared with a bunch of others in our domain. 
Would we need to remove the permission ID for just that one user or for all the users in our org that have access to migrate the files within that one user's MyDrive to a Shared Folder?

How would you update this to loop through a list of FileIDs and Users to remove the permission from each user for each file? 

Ross Scroggs

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Oct 19, 2023, 6:40:56 PM10/19/23
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Tom,

Send me a Meet/Zoom invitation to discuss.

Ross
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Tom Robinson

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Oct 19, 2023, 7:13:15 PM10/19/23
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Hi Ross! Thank you. 
I just sent you a Zoom invite if you are free to meet?

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