SharePoint 2010 - Moving Sites and Solutions

In the life span of a SharePoint Deployment, there are sometimes a requirement  to move the site from one location to another.

Types of Moving

There are various types of moving involved.

1. Moving within the Site Collection
2. Moving outside the Site Collection
3. Moving outside the Web Application
4. Moving outside the Servers

In this article I would like to explore the shortest path available to achieve the scenario.

1. Moving within the Site Collection

Here you are moving one site to another site, within the same site collection. Please note that the content database is the same in this case.



This movement could be faster since there is only one URL change required in the background.

You can use the following solution: Content and Structure

Open Site Settings then select "Content and Structure" then select the Site then select "Use Copy / Move action".



You will be prompted with the destination site.

2. Moving outside the Site Collection

Here you are moving the site from one site collection to another site collection. Here the content database involved will be multiple & requires some real effort.



The common solution for this scenario is: Export & Import.

We can export the source site:

Export-SPWeb -Identity http://server/site -Path c:\export\site.cmp

Then we can import the file at a destination site:

Import-SPWeb -identity http://server/destsite -path c:\export\site.cmp

Before importing, you need to create the destination site with the same template as the source.

Please note that there are 2 types of Export commands:

1. Export-SPWeb for exporting the site
2. Export-SPSite for exporting the site collection

Similarly, Import commands are:

1. Import-SPWeb for importing the site
2. Import-SPSite for importing the site collection
3. Moving outside the Web Application

3. Moving outside the Web Application

In this case we can use Step 2 and copy the exported file to the destination web application accessible path.



4. Moving to outside Servers

In this case we can use Step 2 and copy the exported file to the destination server accessible path.



Things to remember after Move

The following are the check list items after a site collection move:

• Ensure the home page is correct
• Ensure lists and libraries are copied
• Ensure sub sites
• Ensure permissions especially in top-level site
• Ensure Features are activated

Since the move operation is Copy & Delete, it is recommended that the delete is done only after:

1. Ensuring destination site creation
2. Backing up source site files

There are sophisticated tools available in the market to facilitate copy/move/migration operations. Purchasing them would be a good idea if it saves time, cost & energy.

References

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee428301(v=office.14).aspx

Summary

In this article we have explored the Moving Site scenario & preferred solutions. I am attaching the PowerShell scripts associated.