How to hard-code O365 credentials in Powershell script

Question

I am using the PowerShell script mentioned here: http://www.sharepointdiary.com/2016/11/sharepoint-online-import-terms-to-termset-using-powershell.html to update the term store values and its working perfectly.

However, I need to schedule this Powershell to run through task scheduler so that it can run every hour. For this reason, I want to hard-code credentials that connects to SPOnline. But for some reason I am seeing below error.

I tried to make below change in Powershell to hard-code credentials:

   #Load SharePoint CSOM Assemblies
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll"
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll"
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Taxonomy.dll"

#Variables for Processing

$AdminURL = "https://abc-admin.sharepoint.com/"
$TermGroupName= "Site Collection - abs.sharepoint.com-sites-123site"
$TermSetName="Due Diligence"
$CSVFile ="C:\Users\dm123\Downloads\TermStore.csv"
$TermHeaderInCSV ="Due Diligence"

Try {
    #Get Credentials to connect
    $Username = "[email protected]"
    $Password ="LE$yrts1m$."

    $securePassword = ConvertTo-SecureString $Password -AsPlainText -Force


    #Setup the context
    $Ctx = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ClientContext($AdminURL) 
    $Credentials = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.SharePointOnlineCredentials($Username, $securePassword) 
    $Ctx.Credentials = $Credentials

    #Get the term store
    $TaxonomySession=[Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Taxonomy.TaxonomySession]::GetTaxonomySession($Ctx)
    $TaxonomySession.UpdateCache()
    $TermStore =$TaxonomySession.GetDefaultSiteCollectionTermStore()
    $Ctx.Load($TaxonomySession)
    $Ctx.Load($TermStore)
    $Ctx.ExecuteQuery()

    #Get Termstore data from CSV and iterate through each row
    Import-Csv $CSVFile | ForEach-Object {

        #Get the Term Group
        $TermGroup=$TermStore.Groups.GetByName($TermGroupName)

        #Get the term set
        $TermSet = $TermGroup.TermSets.GetByName($TermSetName)

        #CSV File Header Row in Term to Add
        $TermName = $_.$($TermHeaderInCSV)

        #Check if the given term exists already
        $Terms = $TermSet.Terms
        $Ctx.Load($Terms)
        $Ctx.ExecuteQuery()
        $Term = $Terms | Where-Object {$_.Name -eq $TermName}

        If(-not $Term)
        {
            #Create Term Set
            Write-host "Creating Term '$TermName'" -ForegroundColor Cyan
            $Term = $TermSet.CreateTerm($TermName,1033,[System.Guid]::NewGuid().toString())
            $Ctx.Load($Term)
            $Ctx.ExecuteQuery()
            $Term.TermStore.CommitAll()
            $TaxonomySession.UpdateCache()
            Write-host "New Term '$TermName' Added Successfully!" -ForegroundColor Green
        }
        else
        {
            Write-host "Term '$TermName' Exists Already!" -ForegroundColor Yellow
        }
    }
 }
Catch {
    write-host -f Red "Error Importing Term store Data!" $_.Exception.Message
}

Can someone please help me resolve the error, I simply need to hard-code the credentials. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

You can use the ConvertTo-SecureString method to do that and pass that value.

Modify the try block in your code as below :

Try {
    #Get Credentials to connect

    $Username = "[email protected]"
    $Password ="LE$b1yuio$!."

    $securePassword = ConvertTo-SecureString $Password -AsPlainText -Force

    $Ctx = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ClientContext($AdminURL) 
    $Credentials = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.SharePointOnlineCredentials($Username, $securePassword) 
    $Ctx.Credentials = $Credentials

    # rest of your existing code.

Answer 2

I haven't checked your full script but try putting a backtick (`) before the $ in your password variable.

PS C:\Temp> $Password ="LE$b1yuio$!."
PS C:\Temp> $Password
LE$!.
PS C:\Temp> $Password ="LE`$b1yuio$!."
PS C:\Temp> $Password
LE$b1yuio$!.
PS C:\Temp>

Or use a password without a $ sign.

Answer 3

Sample demo for your reference.

#Credentials to connect to office 365 site collection url 
$siteUrl ="https://tenant.sharepoint.com/sites/Developer"
$loginname="[email protected]"
$password = "pw"
$secstr = New-Object -TypeName System.Security.SecureString
$password.ToCharArray() | ForEach-Object {$secstr.AppendChar($_)}

$ctx = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ClientContext($siteUrl)
$ctx.Credentials = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.SharePointOnlineCredentials($loginname, $secstr)
$web = $ctx.Web 
$ctx.Load($web)
$ctx.ExecuteQuery()

Update:

Below script works in my local.

Write-Host "Load CSOM libraries" -foregroundcolor black -backgroundcolor yellow
Set-Location $PSScriptRoot
Add-Type -Path (Resolve-Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll")
Add-Type -Path (Resolve-Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll")

#Credentials to connect to office 365 site collection url 
$siteUrl ="https://tenant.sharepoint.com/sites/Developer"
$loginname="[email protected]"
$password = "pw"
$secstr = New-Object -TypeName System.Security.SecureString
$password.ToCharArray() | ForEach-Object {$secstr.AppendChar($_)}

$ctx = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ClientContext($siteUrl)
$ctx.Credentials = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.SharePointOnlineCredentials($loginname, $secstr)
$web = $ctx.Web 
$ctx.Load($web)
$ctx.ExecuteQuery()
write-host $web.Title