OSError: [WinError 123] The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect

Question

I am writing python program to rename the file with current time & date, but I get below error.

OSError: [WinError 123] The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect

my code

import os
import sys
import datetime 

file=open("C:\\Users\\sun\\Desktop\\ping",'w')
z=file.name
dt = str(datetime.datetime.now())
file.close()
print(z)
new ='C:\\Users\\sun\\Desktop\\ping_'+dt+'.txt'
os.rename(z,new)
print("i am done")

output

OSError: [WinError 123] The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect

Please let me know what mistake I am making for os.rename function when passing z & destination new strings.

Answer 1

>>> str(datetime.datetime.now())
'2017-08-10 19:52:39.057834'

notice the colons (:) which are used to separate drive from the rest of the path. You cannot use that in a filename on windows.

I'd suggest:

datetime.datetime.now().replace(":","_")

(and maybe get rid of the spaces too, or use a compatible custom format for your date)