Running PowerShell CSOM towards a SharePoint Online site

Question

I have an issue with the files needed for running PowerShell in relation to SharePoint online. I am using the following files to create the connection:

Add-Type -Path "C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client\v4.0_15.0.0.0__71e9bce111e9429c\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll" 
Add-Type -Path "C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime\v4.0_15.0.0.0__71e9bce111e9429c\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll" 

And this works on one PC, but not on others. Now the issue is that I know I need to set up the PC correctly first, but I cannot remember how I did this the first time around.

I tried copying the .dlls over to the new machine, but it does not work. I tried to install this: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35585, but that does not work either.

I am sure that I am running everything in Admin-mode, but it still does not work.

My guess is that it is some sort of dependencies that are missing, but I do not know which or how to identify if that is the problem.

Error:

Exception calling "LoadFrom" with "1" argument(s): "Could not load file or assembly 'file:///C:\Program Files\Common Fi les\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll' or one of its dependencies. The sy stem cannot find the file specified." At C:\PowerShell\Builds\GrundfosFunctions.ps1:1549 char:2 + [Reflection.Assembly]::LoadFrom("$env:CommonProgramFiles\Microsoft Shared\Web S ... + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : FileNotFoundException

And

Exception calling "LoadFrom" with "1" argument(s): "Could not load file or assembly 'file:///C:\Program Files\Common Fi les\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll' or one of its dependencies . The system cannot find the file specified." At C:\PowerShell\Builds\GrundfosFunctions.ps1:1550 char:5 + [Reflection.Assembly]::LoadFrom("$env:CommonProgramFiles\Microsoft Shared\We ... + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : FileNotFoundException

Answer 1

Note: The way you have tried to add SharePoint Client Side Namespaces is certainly not the correct or the best way. Also your provided sdk link is for SharePoint 2013(15 hive) and not for SPO(16 Hive).

If you want to connect to SharePoint Online via CSOM PowerShell, then first you need to get installed SharePoint Online Client Components SDK. This installation will get all the required dlls at 16 hive location.

Note: Using SharePoint Server 2013 Client Components SDK you can do your PowerShell development, but SPO Client Components SDK in addition to SharePoint Server 2013 gives extra methods which can be very handy.

Here is the location where you find all the dlls

C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\

And you add these in your ps code like below:

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'    

Refer below code which access SharePoint Online Site, Also read this very helpful article on Using CSOM in PowerShell scripts with Office 365 by Chris O'Brien.

# replace these details (also consider using Get-Credential to enter password securely as script runs).. 
$username = "[email protected]" 
$password = "SomePassword" 
$url = "https://SomeSite.sharepoint.com"

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

# the path here may need to change if you used e.g. C:\Lib.. 
Add-Type -Path "c:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\15\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll" 
Add-Type -Path "c:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\15\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll" 
# note that you might need some other references (depending on what your script does) for example:
Add-Type -Path "c:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\15\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Taxonomy.dll" 

# connect/authenticate to SharePoint Online and get ClientContext object.. 
$clientContext = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ClientContext($url) 
$credentials = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.SharePointOnlineCredentials($username, $securePassword) 
$clientContext.Credentials = $credentials 

if (!$clientContext.ServerObjectIsNull.Value) 
{ 
    Write-Host "Connected to SharePoint Online site: '$Url'" -ForegroundColor Green 
}