Clear the Configuration Cache in a SharePoint 2010, 2013, or 2016 farm

Here is a script that will clear the SharePoint Configuration Cache on all servers in the farm. This is a more compact script than the one I previously released.

Simply copy to one of the servers and run in an elevated PowerShell window. The script will determine where the configuration cache is stored on all servers in the farm, stop the timer services, clear the cache, reset the counter, and start the timer services again.

This script is provided as-is.

<#
.SYNOPSIS
Clear the Configuration Cache in a SharePoint 2010, 2013, or 2016 farm
  
.DESCRIPTION
Clear-SPConfigCache.ps1 will:
 1. Stop the SharePoint Timer Service on all servers in the farm
 2. Delete all xml files in the configuration cache folder on all servers in the farm
 3. Copy the existing cache.ini files as a backup
 4. Clear the cache.ini files and reset them to a value of 1
 5. Start the SharePoint Timer Service on all servers in the farm

Clear-SPConfigCache.ps1 will work in either single-server and multi-server farms.

Run in an elevated SharePoint Management Shell

Author: Jason Warren

.LINK
 http://jasonwarren.ca/ClearSPConfigCache ClearSPConfigCache.ps1
 
.EXAMPLE
 .\Clear-SPConfigCache.ps1
 
.INPUTS
None. Clear-SPConfigCache.ps1 does not take any input.

.OUTPUTS
Text output that describes the current task being performed.

#>


Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell -ErrorAction Stop
$farm = Get-SPFarm
$ConfigDB = Get-SPDatabase | where {$_.Name -eq $Farm.Name}

# Configuration Cache is stored in %PROGRAMDATA\Microsoft\SharePoint\Config\[Config ID GUID]
# %PROGRAMDATA% is C:\ProgramData by default, it is assumed it's in the same location on all servers in the farm
#	i.e. if it's X:\ProgramData on one server, it will be X:\ProgramData on the others
# We'll be connecting via UNC paths, so we'll also change the returned DRIVE: to DRIVE$
$ConfigPath = "$(($env:PROGRAMDATA).Replace(':','$'))\Microsoft\SharePoint\Config\$($ConfigDB.Id.Guid)"

# Stop the timer service on all farm servers
$TimerServiceName = "SPTimerV4"
foreach ($server in $farm.TimerService.Instances.Server) {
	Write-Output "Stopping $TimerServiceName on $($server.Address)..."
	$service = Get-Service -ComputerName $server.Address -Name $TimerServiceName
	Stop-Service -InputObject $service -Verbose
} # Foreach server


$TimeStamp = Get-Date -Format "yyyymmddhhmmssms"

# Clear and reset the cache on each server in the farm
foreach ($server in $farm.TimerService.Instances.Server) {

	Write-Output $server.Address
	
	# build the UNC path e.g. \\server\X$\ProgramData\Microsoft\SharePoint\Config\00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
	$ServerConfigPath = "\\$($server.Address)\$($ConfigPath)"
	
	# Delete the XML files
	Write-Output "Remove XML files: $ServerConfigPath..."
	Remove-Item -Path "$ServerConfigPath\*.xml"
	
	# Backup the old cache.ini
	Write-Output "Backup $ServerConfigPath\cache.ini..."
	Copy-Item -Path "$ServerConfigPath\cache.ini" -Destination "$ServerConfigPath\cache.ini.$TimeStamp"
	
	# Save the value of "1" to cache.ini
	Write-Output "Set cache.ini to '1'..."
	"1" | Out-File -PSPath "$ServerConfigPath\cache.ini"

	Write-Output ""
	
} #foreach server

#Start the timer service on all farm servers
foreach ($server in $farm.TimerService.Instances.Server) {
	Write-Output "Starting $TimerServiceName on $($server.Address)..."
	$service = Get-Service -ComputerName $server.Address -Name $TimerServiceName
	Start-Service -InputObject $service -Verbose
	
}