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I came across this TechNet article when I was searching for ways to copy one SharePoint 2007 web application with all site collections to another farm. In our case we used the steps described under “Migrating using SQL Server Tools” to move databases across farms. In our customer environments (we have a mix of beta2, beta2TR and RTM), the normal backup/restore options did not work. Exporting the site using STSADM also failed. But by using this technique it was very easy to do it.
And it turned out that it is also a pretty nice and clean way to migrate sites gradually to the RTM version. Here are the steps (described very briefly):
- Create a SQL backup of the content database(s) of the web application you want to copy/migrate
- On the destination server, restore the backup in a new database(s)
- Create a new web application on the destination server (use the default database name proposed by sharepoint)
- Detach the database
- Go to Application Management – Content databases
- Select the correct web application
- Set the database status to offline
- Click Add a content database
- Enter the correct details about your restored database and click OK
- That’s all
When I was copying a content database from a Beta2–TR server farm to a server farm running the release version, I got this message when I attached the restored database:
Attaching this database requires upgrade, which could time out the browser session. You must use the STSADM command 'addcontentdb' to attach this database.
Instead of using the user interface I now added the new content database by using STSADM (replace my sample parameters between [ and ]):
stsadm -o addcontentdb -url [http://office2007:85] -databasename [WSS_Content_85] -databaseserver [OFFICE2007\OfficeServers]
After running the command I got the message “Operation completed successfully” and my site was up and running in RTM. Please note that you can only use supported upgrades in this scenario; you can go from beta-2 to beta-2 technical refresh and from beta-2 TR to RTM. |