• November 8, 2016

PowerShell – Create SharePoint Alert remotely (CSOM)

I want to migrate user alerts to Office 365 from SharePoint 2013 on-prem and was surprised to learn there is no client side API for creating Alerts.   Not SOAP, not REST, nothing but the web browser ASPX web form GUI.

So I took Fiddler and inspected the HTTP POST traffic when you click “OK” on the SharePoint “SubNew.aspx” page in the browser.   Lots of great detail!    You can see all the ASPX web form controls and internal values.   Clicking the “OK” button posts that event back to the server side Dot Net for processing with Request Digest, ViewState, and lots of cool stuff.

So …. could we simulate sending that same HTTP traffic?   From somewhere else?    Like PowerShell??    That’d be awesome!

Below is the working concept. PowerShell function with a handful of sample calls. Immediate alert, Daily, Weekly scheduled, etc. With various recipients and filters. Enjoy! 

Screenshots

Code  (CreateSPAlert.ps1)

Function CreateSPAlert($webURL, $listID, $userLogin, $userDisplayName, $alertTitle, $changeType, $sendAlertsFor, $whenToSend, $whenToSendDay, $whenToSendTime) {
    <#
    ASPNet WebForm Input Values
    $changeType
    -1 All changes
     1 New items are added
     2 Existing items are modified
     4 Items are deleted
    $sendAlertsFor
    0 'Anything changes'
    1 ''
    2 ''
    3 ''
    $whenToSend
    0 immediate
    1 daily
    2 weekly
    $whenToSendDay
    0 Sunday
    1 Monday
    2 Tuesday
    3 Wednesday
    4 Thursday
    5 Friday
    6 Saturday
    $whenToSendTime
    12:00 AM
    1:00 AM
    ..
    11:00 AM
    12:00 PM
    1:00 PM
    ..
    11:00 PM
    #>
    # Convert parameters
    switch ($sendAlertsFor) {
        '1' {$sendAlertsFor=''}
        '2' {$sendAlertsFor=''}
        '3' {$sendAlertsFor=''}
        default {$sendAlertsFor='Anything changes'}
    }
    # List Scope
    $url = "$webURL/_layouts/15/SubNew.aspx?List=$listID"
    $fields = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $url -UseDefaultCredentials -UseBasicParsing  | select -ExpandProperty inputfields | select name, value
    # HTTP POST Body WeBforms
    $postParams = @{
    'MSOWebPartPage_PostbackSource'='';
    'MSOTlPn_SelectedWpId'='';
    'MSOTlPn_View'='0';
    'MSOTlPn_ShowSettings'='False';
    'MSOGallery_SelectedLibrary'='';
    'MSOGallery_FilterString'='';
    'MSOTlPn_Button'='none';
    '__LASTFOCUS'='';
    '__EVENTTARGET'='ctl00$PlaceHolderMain$ctl01$RptControls$BtnCreateAlert';
    '__EVENTARGUMENT'='';
    'MSOSPWebPartManager_DisplayModeName'='Browse';
    'MSOSPWebPartManager_ExitingDesignMode'='false';
    'MSOWebPartPage_Shared'='';
    'MSOLayout_LayoutChanges'='';
    'MSOLayout_InDesignMode'='';
    'MSOSPWebPartManager_OldDisplayModeName'='Browse';
    'MSOSPWebPartManager_StartWebPartEditingName'='false';
    'MSOSPWebPartManager_EndWebPartEditing'='false';
    '_maintainWorkspaceScrollPosition'='741';
    '__REQUESTDIGEST' = ($fields|? {$_.Name -eq '__REQUESTDIGEST'}).Value;
    '__VIEWSTATE'=($fields|? {$_.Name -eq '__VIEWSTATE'}).Value;
    '__SCROLLPOSITIONX'='0';
    '__SCROLLPOSITIONY'='0';
    '__EVENTVALIDATION'=($fields|? {$_.Name -eq '__EVENTVALIDATION'}).Value;
    'ctl00$PlaceHolderMain$ctl03$ctl01$TextTitle'=$alertTitle;
    'ctl00$PlaceHolderMain$ctl04$ctl01$clientPeoplePicker'="[{""Key"":""$userLogin"",""DisplayText"":""$userDisplayName"",""IsResolved"":true,""Description"":""$userLogin"",""EntityType"":"""",""EntityGroupName"":"""",""HierarchyIdentifier"":null,""EntityData"":{""SPUserID"":""1"",""AccountName"":""$userLogin"",""PrincipalType"":""User""},""MultipleMatches"":[],""ProviderName"":"""",""ProviderDisplayName"":"""",""Resolved"":true}]";
    'ctl00$PlaceHolderMain$ctl05$ctl02$rdoDC'='rdo_EmailDC';
    'ctl00$PlaceHolderMain$ctl06$ctl01$RadioBtnEventType'=$changeType;
    'ctl00$PlaceHolderMain$ctl07$ctl02$RadioBtnAlertFilter'=$sendAlertsFor;
    'ctl00$PlaceHolderMain$hdnAlwaysNotify'='False';
    'ctl00$PlaceHolderMain$ctl08$ctl02$RadioBtnAlertFreq'=$whenToSend}
	
	# Append if needed
	if ($whenToSendDay) {
		$postParams.Add('ctl00$PlaceHolderMain$ctl08$ctl03$DdlWeekDay',$whenToSendDay);
	}
	if ($whenToSendTime) {
		$postParams.Add('ctl00$PlaceHolderMain$ctl08$ctl03$DdlHour',$whenToSendTime);
	}
    # Execute HTTP
    $response = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $url -WebSession RequestForm -Method POST -Body $postParams -ContentType 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded' -UseBasicParsing
}
# Main
$start = Get-Date
# Create SP alerts
CreateSPAlert 'http://sharepoint/sites/test' '%7B0D568A08%2DD7AA%2D405B%2DADE1%2DF324216C0272%7D' 'i:0#.w|company\\jsmith' 'John Smith' 'Documents' '-1' 'Anything changes' '0'
CreateSPAlert 'http://sharepoint/sites/test' '%7B0D568A08%2DD7AA%2D405B%2DADE1%2DF324216C0272%7D' 'i:0#.w|company\\jsmith' 'John Smith' 'Documents' '4' 'Anything changes' '0'
CreateSPAlert 'http://sharepoint/sites/test' '%7B0D568A08%2DD7AA%2D405B%2DADE1%2DF324216C0272%7D' 'i:0#.w|company\\jsmith' 'John Smith' 'Daily-Documents' '4' 'Anything changes' '1' '0' '7:00 PM'
CreateSPAlert 'http://sharepoint/sites/test' '%7B0D568A08%2DD7AA%2D405B%2DADE1%2DF324216C0272%7D' 'i:0#.w|company\\jsmith' 'John Smith' 'Weekly-Documents' '4' 'Anything changes' '2' '5' '5:00 PM'
# Run duration
$end = (Get-Date) - $start
$ms = $end.TotalMilliseconds
"$ms MS duration"

References

• http://spalertme.codeplex.com/
• http://www.learningsharepoint.com/2013/09/17/client-object-model-doesnt-support-creating-sharepoint-2013-alerts/
• http://techtrainingnotes.blogspot.com/2011/10/sharepoint-create-alert-from-anywhere.html
• https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums/sharepoint/en-US/7a2a6447-cf92-427d-acb5-095067f4f9b1/set-up-alert-on-document-from-net-client-object-model
• https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/11217809-9aaa-4d6f-8a53-4c1e9ab010a6/how-to-set-alert-me-on-documents-using-client-object-model-2010
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/24416618/sending-sharepoint-alerts-programmatically-using-client-side-object-model
• http://toddbaginski.com/blog/how-to-create-office-365-sharepoint-alerts-with-the-client-side-object-model-csom/

• November 8, 2016
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