Copy A WSS 3.0 Site to Another

This is a method I use for small business customers to provide them with a 'sandbox' environment they can play in. But this applies to you as well.  

Your 'Production' environment would be the old site/server, the 'sandbox' site would be your new server/site -- http://blog.brainlitter.com/archive/2009/03/09/how-to-refresh-a-sharepoint-sandbox-collection-with-production.aspx

However, if you aren't moving a whole site collection, here's your solution for moving just a subsite with all the various bits and bobs (there are other methods like save site as template, etc. but they have severe limitations, like 10MB, etc.)  http://blog.brainlitter.com/archive/2009/05/10/save-sharepoint-list-as-template-with-content-maxes-out-at-10mb-%e2%80%93-but-i-want-more%e2%80%a6.aspx

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How to Refresh a SharePoint Sandbox Collection with Production 

This guide has been created to provide the necessary steps to 'refresh' a Sandbox Collection (Different Web Application) with Production Data, so that it can be 'played with' without breaking the Production Implementation.

   

Note on Authentication/Permissions: Ensure you perform these tasks with an account that has full SharePoint Administrative privileges such as an 'SPSAdmin' account.

   

• First, determine the Web Applications for the Source (Production) Web Application/Site Collection and the Destination (Sandbox) Web Application/Site Collection.
  • Open Central Administration and choose the "Application Management" tab
     
    
       
  • Open the Web Application List
     
    
  • Make note of the URL's
     
    
  • Document the URL's in the table below
     

	Application URL	Collection Description
Source	http://harvey:56000	Production Portal
Destination	http://harvey:56001	Sandbox

   

• Perform a current Backup of the Production Site Collection
  • Go to a DOS Prompt and if the path to the STSADM.EXE application is not already in your System Path (a good idea for convenience), then change to the appropriate directory in order to run the utility.
    • cd %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft shared\Web server extensions\12\Bin
  • Perform the following command, using the URL of the SourceD:\TOP\ProductionToSandBoxTransfer\March-3-2009-Backup.bak Collection and modify your Output destination of the backup file, to suit (in this example, the path is going to be
    • stsadm -o backup -url http://harvey:56000 -filename D:\TOP\ProductionToSandBoxTransfer\March-3-2009-Backup.bak
  • Ensure the backup completed successfully. Your result should look something like this:
     
    
    
       
• Restore your latest backup over your existing Sandbox Web Application (the assumption is you have one in place already), being sure to use the -overwrite option. Note that the restore typically takes much longer than the backup, to complete.
  • Go to a DOS Prompt (if you aren't there already) and if the path to the STSADM.EXE application is not already in your System Path (a good idea for convenience), then change to the appropriate directory in order to run the utility.
    • cd %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft shared\Web server extensions\12\Bin
  • Perform the following command, using the URL of the DestinationD:\TOP\ProductionToSandBoxTransfer\March-3-2009-Backup.bak Collection and utilizing the file you created in step 2 -
    • stsadm -o restore -url http://harvey:56001 -filename D:\TOP\ProductionToSandBoxTransfer\March-3-2009-Backup.bak -overwrite
  • Ensure the restore completed successfully. Your result should look something like this:
     
    
       
• Login and test that the application is healthy
• Finally, if you have any customizations to perform, such as modification of the Quick Launch or Top Link Bar (hard coded URL references to the Production Site), be sure to make those now. As well, we always recommend setting the 'Theme' for the Sandbox site to a different colour scheme. This is a simple solution for ensuring that you know when you are working in the Sandbox and when you are working in production (I often go for the 'lime green' look, as it is especially eye catching and ugly).
  • To change the theme to Lime Green
    • Login to the Sandbox Site
    • Choose Site Actions, Site Settings
       
      
         
    • Choose Site Theme, under Galleries
       
      
    • Select the Verdant Theme and click Apply
       
      
         
• Repeat Step 5 for any remaining sub sites (For example our test site has Manufacturing and Quality Assurance Sites)
  

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Save SharePoint List as Template (with Content) maxes out at 10MB – But I want more… 

I'm often shuttling around content that a client wanted in a new location and sometimes, Saving a SharePoint list as a template (with content) fits the bill nicely. But with a (default) 10MB limit, this can be quite obtrusive. Thankfully, this can be modified (up to a maximum of 500MB) with the following syntax (note that this applies to List AND Site Template saves.

Note: when you try to save a list as a template with content that exceeds the default of 10MB, you'll get this…
The list is too large to save as a template. The size of a template cannot exceed 10485760 bytes

How to increase the List (and Site) save as Template limit

To increase the maximum size, simply run the following stsadm command (from the C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN directory) replacing the propertyvalue to the new maximum size (in bytes). Note, in this example, we are changing it from 10MB to roughly 100MB:

stsadm -o setproperty -propertyname max-template-document-size -propertyvalue 100000000

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