Introduction to SharePoint Online Management Shell

The SharePoint Online Management Shell is an essential tool for administrators managing SharePoint Online environments. Based on Windows PowerShell, it offers a robust set of cmdlets that allow the execution of various administrative tasks directly from the command line. This tool is especially useful for automating repetitive tasks, managing users and permissions, configuring sites and site collections, and much more.

What is the SharePoint Online Management Shell?

The SharePoint Online Management Shell is a PowerShell module developed by Microsoft to facilitate the administration of SharePoint Online. It enables administrators to perform complex operations efficiently and in an automated manner using scripts. With it, you can manage all aspects of SharePoint Online, from site creation to configuring permissions and security policies.

Key Features

1. Site Collection Management:
   • Create, delete, and manage site collections.
   • Example: Creating a new site collection.
   • New-SPOSite -Url https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/NewSite -Owner admin@yourtenant.com -StorageQuota 1000 -Title "New Site Collection"
2. User Management:
   • Add, remove, and manage user permissions.
   • Example: Adding a user to a site collection.
   • Add-SPOUser -Site https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/YourSite -LoginName user@yourtenant.com -Group "Site Members"
3. Configuration:
   • Configure settings at both the organization and site collection levels.
   • Example: Setting the modern experience as the default for new lists.
   • Set-SPOTenant -EnableModernListExperience $true
4. Automation:
   • Automate repetitive tasks and complex configurations using scripts.

Getting Started

To start using the SharePoint Online Management Shell, follow these steps:

1. Installation:
   • Download and install the SharePoint Online Management Shell from the Microsoft Download Center.
   • Alternatively, you can install it via PowerShell:
   • Install-Module -Name Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell
2. Connect to SharePoint Online:
   • Open the SharePoint Online Management Shell and connect to your SharePoint Online environment:
   • Connect-SPOService -Url https://yourtenant-admin.sharepoint.com
   • You will be prompted to enter your admin credentials.
3. Run Commands:
   • Once connected, you can start running commands. For example, to get a list of all site collections:Get-SPOSite

Example Commands

• Create a New Site Collection: New-SPOSite -Url https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/NewSite -Owner admin@yourtenant.com -StorageQuota 1000 -Title "New Site Collection"
• Add a User to a Site Collection: Add-SPOUser -Site https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/YourSite -LoginName user@yourtenant.com -Group "Site Members"
• Set the Modern Experience for New Lists: Set-SPOTenant -EnableModernListExperience $true

Advanced Usage

• Automate Site Collection Creation: $siteUrls = @("https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/Site1", "https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/Site2") foreach ($url in $siteUrls) { New-SPOSite -Url $url -Owner admin@yourtenant.com -StorageQuota 1000 -Title "New Site Collection" }
• Bulk User Management: $users = @("user1@yourtenant.com", "user2@yourtenant.com") foreach ($user in $users) { Add-SPOUser -Site https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/YourSite -LoginName $user -Group "Site Members" }

.NET Core Version

The SharePoint Online Management Shell traditionally relies on the .NET Framework. However, there has been a push towards using .NET Core (now .NET 5 and beyond) for cross-platform compatibility and improved performance. The .NET Core version of the SharePoint Online Management Shell allows administrators to run PowerShell scripts on different operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Benefits of .NET Core Version:

• Cross-Platform: Run your scripts on any operating system.
• Performance: Improved performance and reduced memory footprint.
• Modern Development: Leverage the latest features and improvements in .NET.

To use the .NET Core version, you need to install PowerShell Core (now simply called PowerShell) and the SharePoint Online Management Shell module compatible with .NET Core:

1. Install PowerShell Core:
   • Download and install PowerShell from the official GitHub repository.
2. Install the SharePoint Online Management Shell Module:
   • Open PowerShell Core and run:Install-Module -Name Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell -Scope CurrentUser
3. Connect and Use:
   • Connect to SharePoint Online as usual:Connect-SPOService -Url https://yourtenant-admin.sharepoint.com

Conclusion

The SharePoint Online Management Shell is a powerful tool for administrators, providing the ability to manage SharePoint Online environments efficiently through PowerShell. By leveraging its cmdlets, you can automate tasks, manage users and sites, and configure settings at scale, making it an indispensable tool for any SharePoint Online administrator.

For more detailed information and a full list of available cmdlets, you can refer to the official documentation