I use the following code (on Windows) to map network drives to my local machine, then do any file manipulation that I need to as if it were a local drive, and finally disconnect the drive again.

######################################################################
# Function:     MapNetworkShare                                      #
# Description:  Map the remote network share to a local drive        #
#                                                                    #
# Arguments:    LOCAL_MOUNT - Local drive letter WITH colon and NO \ #
#                             i.e. I:                                #
#               REMOTE_HOST                                          #
#               REMOTE_SHARE                                         #
#               REMOTE_USER                                          #
#               REMOTE_PASS                                          #
#                                                                    #
######################################################################
sub MapNetworkShare {
   my $LOCAL_MOUNT=shift(@_);
   my $REMOTE_HOST=shift(@_);
   my $REMOTE_SHARE=shift(@_);

   my $REMOTE_USER=shift(@_);
   my $REMOTE_PASS=shift(@_);

   # Check for locally mapped drive
   if ( -d "$LOCAL_MOUNT\\" ) {
       &UnMapDrive($LOCAL_MOUNT);
   }

   # Map remote share
   $REMOTE_HOST=~s/^\\\\//;  #Trim leading \\ if specified

   &LogMsg ("Mapping remote share \\\\${REMOTE_HOST}\\${REMOTE_SHARE} 
+as $LOCAL_MOUNT");

   $command="net use $LOCAL_MOUNT \\\\${REMOTE_HOST}\\${REMOTE_SHARE}"
+;
   if ($REMOTE_USER ne '' && $REMOTE_PASS ne '') {
      &LogMsg("Using remote user $REMOTE_USER");
      $command.=" /user:${REMOTE_USER} $REMOTE_PASS";
   }

   $out = `$command`;

   if ( -d "${LOCAL_MOUNT}\\" ) {
      &LogMsg ("Drive successfully mapped");
      return 1;
   } else {
      &LogMsg("ORADBA-1047-013: Unable to map drive: $!\n$out");
      return($out);
   }
}

######################################################################
# Function:    UnMapDrive                                            #
# Description: Un-map a local drive if mapped.                       #
# Arguments:   The drive (with : but no \) to unmap.                 #
######################################################################
sub UnMapDrive {
   my $LOCAL_MOUNT=shift(@_);

   # Clean up locally mapped drive
   if ( -d "$LOCAL_MOUNT\\" ) {
      &LogMsg ("Un-mapping local mount $LOCAL_MOUNT");
      $out = `net use ${LOCAL_MOUNT} /del`;
      if ($? != 0) {
     &DieMsg("ORADBA-1047-014: Unable to unmount $LOCAL_MOUNT\n${!}$ou
+t");
      }
   } else {
      &LogMsg("Local drive $LOCAL_MOUNT does not exist, unable to unma
+p");
   }

   return;
}
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Good luck