Download and delete documents using Powershell

Question

I'm looking to build a Powershell script that does the following to all documents in a SharePoint 2010 document library:

1. Downloads the document to a network file share
2. Deletes the original document in the document library

I started experimenting with the following:

$Url = "http://sharepoint2010/myweb/Shared%20Documents/aaa.txt"
$Path = "C:\test\aaa.txt"
$Username = ""
$Password = ""

$WebClient = New-Object System.Net.WebClient
$WebClient.Credentials = New-Object System.Net.Networkcredential($Username, $Password)
$WebClient.DownloadFile( $url, $path )

However I get "(401) Unauthorized" exceptions even if I execute this on the SharePoint server. Note that this script will execute on a schedule running on a SharePoint WFE server.

Answer 1

I think that if you planing to create a timer job then better investigate how to do it using c# instead of powershell and when the code is running on a timer job it will use the farm account so you wont need to impersonate any account.

Here is a good example of moving/copying documents using the SharePoint object model http://geek.hubkey.com/2007/12/move-sharepoint-document-library-files.html

Hope this helps

Answer 2

Since I don't see PowerShell script that downloads and deletes all files from document library to local or network drive in any of the answers I will post one (this script also keeps folder structure on destination drive):

Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell

$destination = "C:\\test\\"
$web = Get-SPWeb -Identity "http://sharepoint2010/myweb/"
$list = $web.GetList("http://sharepoint2010/myweb/Shared%20Documents/")

function ProcessFolder {
    param($folderUrl)
    $folder = $web.GetFolder($folderUrl)
    foreach ($file in $folder.Files) {
        #Ensure destination directory
        $destinationfolder = $destination + "/" + $folder.Url 
        if (!(Test-Path -path $destinationfolder))
        {
            $dest = New-Item $destinationfolder -type directory 
        }
        #Download file
        $binary = $file.OpenBinary()
        $stream = New-Object System.IO.FileStream($destinationfolder + "/" + $file.Name), Create
        $writer = New-Object System.IO.BinaryWriter($stream)
        $writer.write($binary)
        $writer.Close()
        #Delete file by deleting parent SPListItem
        $list.Items.DeleteItemById($file.Item.Id)
    }
}

#Download root files
ProcessFolder($list.RootFolder.Url)
#Download files in folders
foreach ($folder in $list.Folders) {
    ProcessFolder($folder.Url)
}

#Delete folders
foreach ($folder in $list.Folders) {
    try {
        $list.Folders.DeleteItemById($folder.ID)
    }
    catch {
        #Deletion of parent folder already deleted this folder
        #I really hate this
    }
}

Permission issues? Just run it on SharePoint server as admin and it will work :)

Answer 3

If you're running this impersonating the farm account, you won't (by default) have access to the content of sites.

you will have to impersonate an account which has access to that site, but then you have the issue of storing credentials in a script, which is very ill-advised (particularly if it's farm account credentials you have stored in there).

Is there any particular reason why you need this ran as a script?