How to Connect to SharePoint Online using PnP PowerShell?

Requirement: Connect to SharePoint Online using PnP PowerShell.

SharePoint Patterns and Practices (PnP) for SharePoint Online is a set of PowerShell cmdlets written by the community to manage SharePoint Online efficiently. PnP PowerShell internally uses the Client-Side Object model code for its operations. With PnP PowerShell, we can reduce the number of lines in our scripts by utilizing its built-in cmdlets and reducing the complexity of scripting implementations. To connect to SharePoint Online from PnP PowerShell, here are the steps:

Step 1: Install SharePoint Online PnP PowerShell Module

To start with PnP PowerShell, You need to download and install Windows Management Framework 5.1 from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=54616, If you are running Operating Systems like Windows 7/8, Windows 2008, or Windows 2012/R2. Select the appropriate download for your operating system and restart your machine to complete the installation. On Windows 10 and later, it’s already installed.

How to install PnP PowerShell for SharePoint Online?
Open SharePoint Online Management Shell or Windows PowerShell as Administrator and Run the below command:

Install-Module SharePointPnPPowerShellOnline

Confirm the prompt, and this downloads and installs the PnP module for SharePoint Online. This module provides cmdlets that allow you to connect to and manage your SharePoint Online environment easily.

Download SharePoint Online PnP PowerShell: You can also download and install the MSI installer from GitHub: Download PnP PowerShell for SharePoint Online (MSI),

Install SharePoint Online PnP PowerShell Module, If not installed Already:

Let’s check if the PnP PowerShell module is already installed on the local machine. If not, install it!

#Check if SharePoint Online PnP PowerShell module has been installed
Try {
    Write-host "Checking if SharePoint Online PnP PowerShell Module is Installed..." -f Yellow -NoNewline
    $SharePointPnPPowerShellOnline  = Get-Module -ListAvailable "SharePointPnPPowerShellOnline"

    If(!$SharePointPnPPowerShellOnline)
    {
        Write-host "No!" -f Green

        #Check if script is executed under elevated permissions - Run as Administrator
        If (-NOT ([Security.Principal.WindowsPrincipal][Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()).IsInRole([Security.Principal.WindowsBuiltInRole] "Administrator"))
        {   
            Write-Host "Please Run this script in elevated mode (Run as Administrator)! " -NoNewline
            Read-Host "Press any key to continue"
            Exit
        }

        Write-host "Installing SharePoint Online PnP PowerShell Module..." -f Yellow -NoNewline
        Install-Module SharePointPnPPowerShellOnline -Force -Confirm:$False
        Write-host "Done!" -f Green
    }
    Else
    {
        Write-host "Yes!" -f Green
        Write-host "Importing SharePoint Online PnP PowerShell Module..." -f Yellow  -NoNewline
        Import-Module SharePointPnPPowerShellOnline -DisableNameChecking
        Write-host "Done!" -f Green
    }
}
Catch{
    write-host "Error: $($_.Exception.Message)" -foregroundcolor red
}

Update SharePoint Online PnP PowerShell Module
To update an existing PnP PowerShell Module, use the following:

Update-Module SharePointPnPPowerShellOnline

This solves the issues like “WARNING: A newer version of PnP PowerShell is available: 3.19.2003.0. Consider upgrading.”.

Step 2: Connect to SharePoint Online using PnP PowerShell

Once you have installed the PnP PowerShell module for SharePoint Online, the next step is to establish a connection to the SharePoint Online site. PnP PowerShell module connects to a particular SharePoint Online site collection instead of connecting to the tenant as in SharePoint Online Management Shell’s Connect-SPOService. Here is how to connect to the SharePoint Online site using PnP PowerShell:

Connect-PnPOnline -Url https://Crescent.sharepoint.com

You’ll be prompted to enter credentials to connect. Enter the user name and password to connect to your SharePoint Online site. You can use the PowerShell console or PowerShell ISE to write PowerShell scripts. You can also hard-code credentials in your script, such as:

$SiteURL="https://Crescent.sharepoint.com"
$UserName="[email protected]"
$Password = "password"

$SecurePassword = ConvertTo-SecureString -String $Password -AsPlainText -Force
$Cred = New-Object -TypeName System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -argumentlist $UserName, $SecurePassword

#connect to sharepoint online site using powershell
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $SiteURL -Credentials $Cred

You can also use the client ID and client secret method to connect to SharePoint Online from PnP PowerShell: How to Connect to SharePoint Online using ClientID ClientSecret?

Permissions required to connect to SharePoint Online from PnP PowerShell: What permissions are required for you to connect to SharePoint Online from PnP PowerShell? Global Admin? Well, it depends on the cmdlet you are running. E.g., Read permissions are enough if you need to get items from a list, whereas you need tenant admin rights to create a new site collection!

Connect to SharePoint Online using PnP PowerShell MFA

You can also use -Interactive switch to connect from the currently logged-in user’s session. If there are no existing sessions found, You’ll get a browser window to login, which is MFA-aware!

Connect-PnPOnline -Url $SiteURL -UseWebLogin

In the new PnP.PowerShell, we have an improved switch “-Interactive” which can be used with multi factor authentication enabled accounts. If you get “Connect-PnPOnline : A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name ‘Interactive’.”, that means you are not running the latest PnP PowerShell module. So, your options are either Upgrade the PnP PowerShell module or replace the “Interactive” switch with “UseWebLogin”. Once the connection is established, you can start using PnP PowerShell cmdlets. Here are some examples of using PnP PowerShell cmdlets in SharePoint Online:

Create a List or Document Library:

To create a document library in SharePoint Online using PnP PowerShell, use:

New-PnPList -Title "Team Documents" -Template DocumentLibrary

How do I create a list in PnP PowerShell? Here is an example:

New-PnPList -Title "ProjectsV3" -Template GenericList

Reference: https://pnp.github.io/powershell/cmdlets/new-pnplist.html

Create a Subsite:

New-PnPWeb -Title "emea" -Url "emea" -Template "STS#0"

SharePoint Online PnP PowerShell to Create Site Collection
Here is another example of creating a site collection using PnP PowerShell.

#Define Variables
$AdminCenterURL = "https://Crescent-admin.sharepoint.com"
$SiteURL = "https://Crescent.sharepoint.com/sites/procurement"
$SiteTitle = "Crescent Procurement Portal"
$SiteOwner = "[email protected]"
$Template = "STS#0"
$Timezone = 4
$StorageQuota = 1000 

#Get Credentials to connect
$Cred = Get-Credential

#Connect to Tenant Admin
Connect-PnPOnline -URL $AdminCenterURL -Credential $Cred

#Create site collection based on given parameters
New-PnPTenantSite -Url $SiteURL -Owner $SiteOwner -Title $SiteTitle -Template $Template -TimeZone $TimeZone -StorageQuota $StorageQuota

Use Credentials from Windows Credentials Store to Connect to PnP Online:
To avoid credential popups, you can store your credentials in the Windows credentials store and connect to PnP online without a user name password prompt! Here is how:

1. Open Control Panel >> Windows credential manager
2. Select Windows Credentials >> Click on “Add a new Generic credential”
3. Enter your SharePoint Site URL, User Name, and Password and hit save.

   

From now on, You can connect to PnP Online with the specified URL without the Credentials parameter. It also works for any sites underneath the given URL!
E.g.

Connect-PnPOnline -Url "https://Crescent.sharepoint.com" 

SharePoint Online: Get PnP PowerShell Commands

To get all available cmdlets of PnP PowerShell, use:

Get-Command -Module SharePointPnPPowerShellOnline

There are 370 cmdlets available today in the PnP PowerShell module for SharePoint Online.