Auto sync with one drive for business on windows server

Question

We have an SharePoint online environment in which we have created a records collection. We are trying to sync one of our network shares to a document library in this collection and we want to set this job on a windows server.

The network share will be updated with new files on a daily basis and we want the files to be synced to the document library automatically without any user intervention.

Can we set this up by One Drive or does it demand any custom solutions?

Answer 1

The sync client does not really cover service type sync scenarios. The client is intended to allow a user quick access to local files where the user can make local changes and then push them back to the server. The scenario described is more like a custom load solution where documents are generated by a third party system and then imported into SharePoint for document lifecycle management.

On the other hand, a single migration of content on-prem into the cloud would allow for better management of the documents. Things like metadata and other controls might be lost when editing files outside of the SharePoint environment on the file share. Depending on the complexity of the setup, this can be done yourself or though Microsoft or another third-party.

Answer 2

Based on the Answers and comments, we have developed our own custom solution. Here is a crude version of it.

---

static void Main ( string [ ] args )
{
    var targetSite = new Uri ( "https://company.sharepoint.com/Sites/CollectionName/" );
    var login = "user@company.com";
    var password = "password";
    var securePassword = new SecureString ( );
    foreach ( char c in password )
    {
        securePassword.AppendChar ( c );
    }

    var onlineCredentials = new SharePointOnlineCredentials ( login, securePassword );

    using ( ClientContext clientContext = new ClientContext ( targetSite ) )
    {
        clientContext.Credentials = onlineCredentials;
        Web web = clientContext.Web;
        List docs = web.Lists.GetByTitle ( "Record Library" );
        clientContext.Load ( docs.RootFolder.Files );

        clientContext.ExecuteQuery ( );

        FileCollection fc = docs.RootFolder.Files;

        DirectoryInfo directoryInfo = new DirectoryInfo ( @"\\Shared Network Path\" );
        FileInfo [ ] files = directoryInfo.GetFiles ( "*.pdf" ).ToArray ( );

        foreach ( FileInfo file in files )
        {
            if ( !fc.Any ( x => x.Name == file.Name ) )
            {
                FileCreationInformation newFile = new FileCreationInformation ( );
                newFile.Content = System.IO.File.ReadAllBytes ( file.FullName );
                newFile.Url = file.Name;

                docs.RootFolder.Files.Add ( newFile );
            }
        }
        clientContext.ExecuteQuery ( );
        Console.Read ( );
    }
}

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