SharePoint - Create Session

Declaration

<AMSHAREPOINT ACTIVITY="create_session" SITE="text" 
VERSION="text (options)" AUTHTYPE="text (options)" USERNAME="text" 
PASSWORD="text (encrypted)" DOMAIN="text" 
PROXYTYPE="text (options)" PROXYSERVER="text" 
PROXYUSERNAME="text" PROXYPASSWORD="text (encrypted)" 
SESSION="text" />

Description: Creates a new session in which to link subsequent SharePoint activities. Numerous sessions can exist within a single task allowing several SharePoint operations to be automated simultaneously.

Practical Usage

SharePoint operations must be linked to a specific session. This activity is often used in the beginning of a task allowing multiple SharePoint activities to be linked to the created session. To end a session, use the End Session activity.

Server Parameters

Property

Type

Required

Default

Markup

Description

Connection

---

---

---

---

Indicates where this activity's SharePoint credentials should originate from. This is a visual parameter used only during design-time, thus, contains no properties or markups. The available options are:

  • Host - Specifies that a custom set of credentials will be entered for this activity. This option is normally selected if only a single SharePoint activity is required to complete the task.

  • Session - Specifies that credentials should derive from a session created in a previous Create session step. This allows several activities to be linked to a specific session, eliminating redundancy. Multiple sessions can exist within a single task, allowing several SharePoint operations to be automated simultaneously.

Session

Text

Yes if Connection set to Session

SharePoint

Session1

SESSION="mySession1"

The name of the session to associate with this activity. This parameter is active only if the Connection parameter above is set to Session. If the Connection parameter is set to Host, this parameter is ignored and the remainder of the parameters specified below becomes active.

Version

Text (options)

Yes if Connection set to Host

SharePoint 2010

  1. VERSION="sharepointonline"

  2. VERSION="sharepoint2010"

  3. VERSION="sharepoint2007"

The SharePoint version to associate with this activity. The available options are:

  • SharePoint Online - A cloud-based service, hosted by Microsoft as an alternative to installing and deploying SharePoint Server on premises.

  • SharePoint 2010 and newer (default) - SharePoint version 2010 or newer - includes SharePoint Foundation 2010/2013 and SharePoint Server 2010/2013.

  • SharePoint 2007 and older - SharePoint version 2007 or older - includes Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) v3 edition and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS 2007) edition.

NOTE:  Some SharePoint activities are only supported in SharePoint 2010 or newer.

Site

Text

Yes if Connection set to Host

(Empty)

SITE="http://myServer/tech"

The SharePoint site to access. A SharePoint site is a collection of pages, site templates, lists, and libraries configured for the purpose of achieving an express goal.

Authentication type

Text (options)

No

Default

  1. AUTHTYPE="form"

  2. AUTHTYPE="anonymous"

  3. AUTHTYPE="basic"

  4. AUTHTYPE="digest"

  5. AUTHTYPE="ntlm"

The method of authentication to utilize. Authentication types vary depending on the SharePoint version. Different parameters become active depending on which authentication method is selected. Below lists available authentication methods and their compatibility.

  • Default (default) - Compatible withSharePoint 2010 or newer.

  • Basic - Compatible with  all SharePoint versions.

  • Form - Compatible withSharePoint 2010 or newer.

  • Anonymous - Compatible withSharePoint 2010 or newer.

  • Digest - Compatible with  SharePoint 2007 or older.

  • Proprietary - Compatible with  SharePoint 2007 or older.

  • None - Compatible with  SharePoint 2007 or older.

  • NTLM - Compatible with  SharePoint 2007 or older.

Username

Text

Yes

(Empty)

USERNAME="theUserName"

A valid SharePoint username. This parameter may or may not be active depending on which option is selected under the Authentication type parameter.

Password

Text

Yes

(Empty)

PASSWORD="encryptedText"

A valid SharePoint password to authenticate the username entered above. This parameter may or may not be active depending on which option is selected under the Authentication type parameter.

Domain

Text

Yes

(Empty)

DOMAIN="myServer"

The domain that the user belongs to. This parameter may or may not be active depending on which option is selected under the Authentication type parameter.

Certificate

Text

No

(Empty)

CERTIFICATE="C:\Temp\file.cer"

The (DER encoded) certificate to use for SharePoint authentication. This parameter may or may not be active depending on which option is selected under the Authentication type parameter.

Ignore invalid certificate

Yes/No

No

No

IGNOREINVALIDCERTIFICATE="yes"

If set to YES, specifies that invalid server certificates that are detected will be automatically ignored. Set to NO by default.

Timeout (seconds)

Number

No

600

TIMEOUT="500"

The total number of seconds allowed to connect to the SharePoint server before a timeout error is generated. The default value is 600 seconds.

Proxy type

Text (options)

No

Default

  1. PROXYTYPE="none"

  2. PROXYTYPE="http"

The type of proxy required for SharePoint connections that pass through a proxy server. The available options are:

  • System default (default) - Points to the default proxy used by the system.

  • None - No proxy authentication required.

  • HTTP - Proxytype is HTTP.

Use authentication

---

---

---

---

If enabled, specifies that proxy authentication is required, enabling authentication-based parameters (disabled by default). This is a design-time parameter, therefore, contains no properties or markups. It is active only if the Proxy type parameter is set to HTTP.

Proxy server

Text

No

(Empty)

PROXYSERVER="proxy.host.com"

The host name (server.domain.com) or IP address (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) of the proxy server. This parameter is available only if the Proxy type parameter is set to HTTP.

Proxy username

Text

No

(Empty)

PROXYUSERNAME=username

The proxy username to authenticate with. This parameter is available only if the Use Authentication parameter is enabled.

Proxy password

Text

No

(Empty)

PROXYPASSWORD="encrypted"

The proxy password to authenticate with. This parameter is available only if the Use Authentication parameter is enabled.

Proxy port

Number

No

808

PROXYPORT="8080"

The port that should be used to connect to the proxy server. This parameter is available only if the Proxy type parameter is set to HTTP. The default value is 808.

Proxy Parameters

Property

Type

Required

Default

Markup

Description

Proxy type

Text (options)

No

Default

PROXYTYPE="http"

The proxy type to use. Required for SharePoint connections that pass through a proxy server. The available options are:

  • System default (default) - Points to the default proxy used by the system.

  • None - No proxy authentication required.

  • HTTP - Proxytype is HTTP.

Use authentication

 

 

 

 

If enabled, specifies that proxy authentication is required, enabling authentication-based parameters (disabled by default). This is a design-time parameter, therefore, contains no properties or markups. It is active only if the Proxy type parameter is set to HTTP.

Proxy server

Text

No

(Empty)

PROXYSERVER="proxy.host.com"

The host name (server.domain.com) or IP address (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) of the proxy server. This parameter is available only if the Proxy type parameter is set to HTTP.

Proxy username

Text

No

(Empty)

PROXYUSERNAME=username

The proxy username to authenticate with. This parameter is available only if the Use Authentication parameter is enabled.

Proxy password

Text

No

(Empty)

PROXYPASSWORD="encrypted"

The proxy password to authenticate with. This parameter is available only if the Use Authentication parameter is enabled.

Proxy port

Number

No

808

PROXYPORT="8080"

The port that should be used to connect to the proxy server. The default port is 8080. This parameter is available only if the Proxy type parameter is set to HTTP.

Description tab - A custom description can be provided on the Description tab to convey additional information or share special notes about a task step.

Error Causes tab - Specify how this step should behave upon the occurrence of an error. (Refer to Task Builder > Error Causes Tab for details.)

On Error tab - Specify what AWE should do if this step encounters an error as defined on the Error Causes tab. (Refer to Task Builder > On Error Tab for details.)

Example

The sample AML code below can be copied and pasted directly into the Steps panel of the Task Builder.

Description: This sample task demonstrates the use of sessions and shows how Advanced Workflows can start all workflows that exist in a given site. It retrieves existing workflows from a given site and populates a dataset with results. The dataset is then looped. During each iteration, a Start Workflow activity starts the next workflow on the list and the workflow instance ID created  during execution is written to a file.

This sample must be modified to fit your SharePoint credentials.

<AMVARIABLE NAME="siteWorkflowInstanceID" />
<AMSHAREPOINT ACTIVITY="create_session" 
SITE="https://netauto.sharepoint.com/sites/test" 
VERSION="sharepointonline" 
USERNAME="SharePoint_Master@networkautomation.com" 
PASSWORD="AM4gM61nOkRPtC4LT0m+2C9UykOt9MCt8BEaME" 
SESSION="SPSession1" /><AMSHAREPOINT ACTIVITY="get_workflows" 
SESSION="SPSession1" RESULTDATASET="siteWorkflowDataset" />
<AMLOOP ACTIVITY="dataset" DATASET="siteWorkflowDataset">
<AMSHAREPOINT ACTIVITY="start_workflow" 
SESSION="SPSession1" WORKFLOWNAME="%siteWorkflowDataset.Name%" 
RESULTVARIABLE="siteWorkflowInstanceID" />
<AMFILESYSTEM ACTIVITY="write_file" 
FILE="c:\temp\execution_list">%siteWorkflowInstanceID%</AMFILESYSTEM>
</AMLOOP><AMSHAREPOINT ACTIVITY="end_session" SESSION="SPSession1" />