We need SharePoint Online client components SDK installed on the client machine, to be able to connect and work with SharePoint Online objects programmatically. We can download and install CSOM assemblies for SharePoint Online from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=42038,

install client side SDK for sharepoint online powershell

This installs a couple of assemblies (DLL files!) at folder "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI"

powershell to install sharepoint online assemblies

Once installed, you can reference them in your PowerShell scripts as:

#Load SharePoint CSOM Assemblies Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll" Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll"  #Get Credentials to connect $Cred= Get-Credential $SiteURL = "https://crescent.sharepoint.com"   #Setup the context $Ctx = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ClientContext($SiteURL) $Ctx.Credentials = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.SharePointOnlineCredentials($Cred.Username, $Cred.Password)  #Get The Web $Web =  $Ctx.Web $Ctx.Load($Web) $Ctx.ExecuteQuery()  #Get Web Title Write-host $Ctx.Web.Title

How about downloading and installing CSOM assemblies using PowerShell?

#Parameters $DownloadURL = "https://download.microsoft.com/download/B/3/D/B3DA6839-B852-41B3-A9DF-0AFA926242F2/sharepointclientcomponents_16-6906-1200_x64-en-us.msi" $Assemblies= @(         "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll",         "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll"     )  #Check if all assemblies given in the list are found $FileExist = $True ForEach ($File in $Assemblies) {     #Check if CSOM Assemblies are Found     If(!(Test-Path $File))     {         $FileExist = $False; Break;     } }  #Download and Install CSOM Assemblies If(!$FileExist) {     #Download the SharePoint Online Client SDK     Write-host "Downloading SharePoint Online Client SDK..." -f Yellow -NoNewline     $InstallerPath = "$Env:TEMP\SharePointOnlineClientComponents16.msi"     Invoke-WebRequest $DownloadURL -OutFile $InstallerPath     Write-host "Done!" -f Green          #Start Installation     Write-host "Installing SharePoint Online Client SDK..." -f Yellow -NoNewline     Start-Process MSIExec.exe -ArgumentList "/i $InstallerPath /qb" -Wait     Write-host "Done!" -f Green } Else {     Write-host "SharePoint Online CSOM assemblies are already installed!" -f Yellow }

Salaudeen Rajack

Salaudeen Rajack is a SharePoint Architect with Two decades of SharePoint Experience. He loves sharing his knowledge and experiences with the SharePoint community, through his real-world articles!