Copy SharePoint List from one site to another (not just items)

[PhilFancy]

Hi, 

I am struggling solving this problem. 

I need to copy a SharePoint List from one SharePoint site to another SharePoint site. List settings as "no attachments" should be applied to the new list as well as all columns and formatting. There are no items in source list. 

On my way to solve this I learned to get a Graph API access token and how to successfully create a list with Graph API. 

But I cannot find a way to get information about the source list by Graph API so I could use my knowledge about POST /lists to create it this way. 

Maybe there is a different approach to copy a list in Power Automate. 
Would be great to hear your ideas. 

[grantjenkins]

Is this just a one-off task - copy the list to another site just the once?

If so, then you can just go to the destination site in SharePoint and create a new list based off an existing list using your source list. This will copy all the columns, views, formatting, etc. It won't copy any items which you mentioned you don't have anyway.

However, if you needed to repeat this process via Power Automate, then let us know.

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[PhilFancy]

Thank you for your response. I need to accomplish this in Power Automate. 

[PhilFancy]

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@grantjenkins wrote:

However, if you needed to repeat this process via Power Automate, then let us know.

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I need to repeat this process via Power Automate. Do you have any idea how to resolve this? 

[PhilFancy]

Last push in hope to get some support.

In the meantime I tried to generate a list via Graph API https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/sites/[id]/lists. This works pretty good but with some downsides. 

• JSON formatting of the columns is lost
• List settings as "no attachments" are lost

Here a screenshot for all that discover this thread in the future as a first attempt how it should look: 

As mentioned above, I hope there is someone coming up with an attempt how to copy a SharePoint list with JSON formatting and list settings. 

[PhilFancy · Accepted solution]

I got the solution! 

As I could not find a way doing this in Graph API I looked around and took the obvious approach -> PowerShell. 

But my first attempt was complicated. -> Power Automate (via On Premise Data Gateway Server) calls a SQL Stored Procedure I created on a on prem SQL Server which runs a SSIS package on this on prem SQL Server which called a PowerShell script that copied the SharePoint list from one site to another. 

That worked, but was too complicated. After some digging and testing here is a working solution via Azure Automation: 

Steps are:

1. Create Azure Automation Ressource (steps described here)
2. Add PnP.PowerShell Module to Automation Ressource
   1. Export it from your PowerShell ISE-> 
      

      save-module -Name PnP.PowerShell -Path c:\temp\

   2. Create a zip from the exported folder
   3. Import it to "Modules" of your Azure Automation Ressource
3. Add Credential for user to run the PowerShell script
   1. In Azure Automation Ressouce go to Credentials -> add user/password and copy name (mine was "SPOAdminCred")
4. Create Runbook
   1. Select PowerShell Workflow (that makes it accessable from Power Automate with parameters)
   2. Add PowerShell script with parameters and reference to credentials (e.g. "SPOAdminCred")
      

      workflow SPO-CopyList
      
      {
      
          # Dynamic Parameters
      
          param(
      
          [parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
      
          [string]$SourceSiteURL = "https://TENANT.sharepoint.com/sites/TemplatePMODevelopment",
      
          [parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
      
          [string]$SourceListURL = "https://TENANT.sharepoint.com/sites/TemplatePMODevelopment/Lists/Risks",
      
          [parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
      
          [string]$DestinationWebUrl = "https://TENANT.sharepoint.com/sites/DETeamsDemo",
      
          [parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
      
          [string]$NewListTitle = "RisksNewList"
      
          )
      
          # Connection
      
          $CrescentCred = Get-AutomationPSCredential -Name "SPOAdminCred"
      
          Connect-PnPOnline -Url $SourceSiteURL -Credentials $CrescentCred    
      
          Copy-PnPList -SourceListUrl $SourceListURL -DestinationWebUrl $DestinationWebUrl -Title $NewListTitle
      
          Disconnect-PnPOnline
      
      }

   3.  Press Save and Publish (note - if you press publish it will not save and will publish empty script)
5. Make sure the user from Power Automate is allowed to launch runbook and read ressource group
6. Make Power Automate run the runbook
   1. Add "Azure Automation" "Create Job" in Power Automate, select Subscription, Resource Group, Automation Ressource, Runbook and fill the parameters.
      
   2. Run Flow and enjoy!

I am glad I solved this and hope this helps anyone else in the future.
Would be great to get some thumbs up. Cheers!