How to Run Copy List Item Workflow Across Whole List at Once

Question

I want to archive a large list (list 1), therefore i saved template of that list without content and renamed it (list 2) and created brand new empty list off that template. Now i am using if statement to compare status of the list item(list 1) as closed. if the condition is met i am copying list item into List 2 and pausing the workflow for 1 minute and delete that item of the list 1.

i have set the workflow to fire off manually.

I have about 5000 items on the list, I cant sit all day and trigger workflow off each item manually. Is there a way i can use this workflow to go across all items on the list and do its job automatically.

Any suggestion would be appreciated.

Thank you

Answer 1

You can usePowerShell to run workflow on all items. The Workflow will not start instantly (as opposed to triggering through the UI) but in maximum 5 minutes because it's started through the SharePoint Timer Service.

# URL of the Site
$web = Get-SPWeb -Identity "https://sharepointsrv/site1"

$manager = $web.Site.WorkFlowManager

# Name of the list
$list = $web.Lists["Shared Documents"]

# Name of the Workflow
$assoc = $list.WorkflowAssociations.GetAssociationByName("On Item Created","en-US")

$data = $assoc.AssociationData
$items = $list.Items
foreach($item in $items)
 {
 $wf = $manager.StartWorkFlow($item,$assoc,$data,$true)
 }

$manager.Dispose()
$web.Dispose()

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/sharepoint/en-US/dffdceab-f2fe-4886-8e2a-ea26cf08c78a/how-to-start-a-speific-workflow-programatically-in-sharepoint-2010-via-powershell

http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/office/Start-a-Workflow-on-120bffe5