Download all files from a document library using client object model

For this to work, you will need to obtain a copy of the SharePoint Client DLL (microsoft.sharepoint.client.dll).

On a server with SharePoint intalled:
SharePoint 2010: 14 hive
SharePoint 2013: 15 hive
SharePoint 2016: 16 hive
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\

In Visual Studio, create a console application and name it Download_All_Files. Copy all the code below and paste it into your code window. Update site URLs and list name (Taco Storage).

Using this process, I was able to download 10,000 documents from a library. Took around 30 minutes to complete.

using System;
using System.IO;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.Client;

namespace Download_All_Files
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // input YOUR URL below
            var site = new ClientContext("http://sharepoint/sites/somesite");
            var web = site.Web;
            site.Load(web);
            site.ExecuteQuery();
            // CHANGE THIS to your library name, get this from the Library Settings page
            List list = web.Lists.GetByTitle("Taco Storage");
            site.Load(list);
            site.ExecuteQuery();
            site.Load(list.RootFolder);
            site.ExecuteQuery();
            site.Load(list.RootFolder.Folders);
            site.ExecuteQuery();
            processFolderClientobj(list.RootFolder.ServerRelativeUrl);
            foreach (Folder folder in list.RootFolder.Folders)
            {
                processFolderClientobj(folder.ServerRelativeUrl);
            }
        }
        public static void processFolderClientobj(string folderURL)
        {
            // folder on your computer where all the files will be downloaded to
            string Destination = @"C:\\yourFolder";
            
            // input YOUR URL below
            var site = new ClientContext("http://sharepoint/sites/somesite");
            var web = site.Web;
            site.Load(web);
            site.ExecuteQuery();
            Folder folder = web.GetFolderByServerRelativeUrl(folderURL);
            site.Load(folder);
            site.ExecuteQuery();
            site.Load(folder.Files);
            site.ExecuteQuery();
            foreach (Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.File file in folder.Files)
            {
                string destinationfolder = Destination + "/" + folder.ServerRelativeUrl;
                Stream fs = Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.File.OpenBinaryDirect(site, file.ServerRelativeUrl).Stream;
                byte[] binary = ReadFully(fs);
                if (!Directory.Exists(destinationfolder))
                {
                    Directory.CreateDirectory(destinationfolder);
                }
                FileStream stream = new FileStream(destinationfolder + "/" + file.Name, FileMode.Create);
                BinaryWriter writer = new BinaryWriter(stream);
                writer.Write(binary);
                writer.Close();
            }
        }
        public static byte[] ReadFully(Stream input)
        {
            byte[] buffer = new byte[16 * 1024];
            using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream())
            {
                int read;
                while ((read = input.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)) > 0)
                {
                    ms.Write(buffer, 0, read);
                }
                return ms.ToArray();
            }
        }
    }
}

Cleaning up a drop off library mess

You installed SharePoint, then your power users enabled the content organizer feature all over your farm. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if it’s not being used, turn it off! Less load on the farm, the better off you will be.

You will find plenty of examples on the web about cleaning up this mess, but I took a slightly different approach. Before disabling the feature and deleting the library, I first checked to make sure the library was empty and no content org rules had been created.

Start-SPAssignment -Global

$web = Get-SPWeb "http://webapp.sharepointed.com"
$feature = Get-SPFeature "7ad5272a-2694-4349-953e-ea5ef290e97c" 

   if ($web.Features[$feature.ID]) 
   {
            $corList = $web.lists["Content Organizer Rules"]
            $dolList = $web.lists["Drop Off Library"]
            
            #check for Cont Org Rules and items in Drop Off Library
            if(($corList.ItemCount -eq 0) -and ($dolList.ItemCount -eq 0))
            {
                  #disable the feature
                  Disable-SPFeature -Identity "7ad5272a-2694-4349-953e-ea5ef290e97c" -Url $_.URL -Confirm:$false
                  
                  #remove the Drop Off Library
                  $dolList.AllowDeletion = $true
                  $dolList.Update()
                  $dolList.Delete()
            }
   } 

Stop-SPAssignment -Global

Use PowerShell to Create Year and Month Folders in Library

How do you create a year and month folder structure in a SharePoint document library?

Every year, I needed to create a folder structure in a report library that looks like this:

Next Year – 01 …… 12

Using PowerShell I’m able to create the parent folder (year), then create the subfolders (months).

*NOTE*
This can be executed using a scheduled task or using a workflow in SharePoint Designer with the help of the iLoveSharePoint add in.

if ((Get-PSSnapin "Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null) {
    Add-PSSnapin "Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell"
}

$spWeb = Get-SPWeb "http://sharepointed.com/sites/reports"
$spDocLib = $spWeb.Lists["TacoReports"]

$yearFolder = (get-date (Get-Date).AddYears(1) -UFormat "%Y")

$targetFolder = $spWeb.GetFolder($spDocLib.RootFolder.ServerRelativeUrl + "/$yearFolder")

if($targetFolder.Exists -eq $false)
{
    $spFolder = $spDocLib.AddItem("",[Microsoft.SharePoint.SPFileSystemObjectType]::Folder,$yearFolder)
	$spFolder.Update()

	$i = 1
	While ($i -le 12)
	{
		$subFolder= "{0:D2}" -f $i
		$spSubFolder = $spDocLib.AddItem($spFolder.Folder.ServerRelativeUrl,[Microsoft.SharePoint.SPFileSystemObjectType]::Folder,$subFolder)
		$spSubFolder.Update()

		$i++
	}
}

Get the current year and add one.
Check if the new folder already exist.
Create the year folder.
Then create the twelve subfolders (one for each month).

Change List or Library URL and Name

Recently had a scenario where I needed to move a bunch of libraries from different sites, to another farm. Every library was titled the same, so when I went to import the libraries, I ran into a small issue. Using a combo of Export-SPweb and Import-SPweb, I moved a library over, then updated the library url and name to the source site name.

if ((Get-PSSnapin “Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell” -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null)
{
Add-PSSnapin “Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell”
}

$webURL = “http://sharepointed.com/sites/taco”

$before = “LibBefore”
$after = “LibAfter”

#Change the URL of the library
$web = Get-SPWeb $webURL
$web.lists[$before].RootFolder.MoveTo($after)
$Web.Dispose()

#Update the library name
$web = Get-SPWeb $webURL
$list = $web.Lists[$after]
$list.Title = $after
$list.Update()
$web.Dispose()

Couple notes.
You might be able to shorten the script to rename and update in a couple lines of code.
If you use the script to change the URL of a list, the list will moved to the root of the site. it will no longer live at site/lists.

*I have not tested this with libraries or list that workflows associated with them. It’s also safe to assume any links to documents would be broken.*

SharePoint Not Crawling List or Library

SharePoint search results were not correct or would be missing some data. After hours of digging around, I noticed that one Search Scope was empty. To try and fix this, I went as far as reseting the search index, yes, clearing out all the search data. No fun!

Here is what I found to work.

List Settings
Allow items from this list to appear in search results?
Change this to NO
Run a crawl on the Content Source.
Go back to List Settings.
Allow items from this list to appear in search results?
Change this to YES
Run a crawl on the Content Source.

My Search Scope filled up.
Search was working again!

Get The Size of a Document Library

“How large is my Document Library”

This was an odd one to crack. For reporting reasons, our team wanted to track the item count and size growth of a Document Library. Sound easy?

if(-not(Get-PSSnapin | where { $_.Name -eq "Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell"}))
{
      Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell;
}

$SPsite = Get-SPsite "http://www.sharepointed.com/sites/taco/"

$dataTable = $SPsite.StorageManagementInformation(2,0x11,0,0)
foreach($x in $dataTable.Rows)
{
	if ($x.LeafName -eq "MyTacoLibrary" -and $x.Directory -eq "sites/taco")
		{
			$LibSize = [Math]::Round(($x.Size/1GB),2)
			Write-Host $LibSize
		}
}

Thanks you Jon for guiding this script.