Migrating site from one server to another

Question

Hi there

I need to migrate a sharepoint site from one server to another. I upgraded the existing site to v 3.0 and then did a backup of the content only. I now need to restore this content into an existing site on a different server. Firstly, I didn't see anywhere to specify where to restore the content to, and secondly, when i tried to restore i got the following message "The backed-up database has on-disk structure version 611. The server supports version 539 and cannot restore or upgrade this database."

Any assitance would be much appreicated. I have a list of sites that I need to migrate.

thanks
Bruce

Answer 1

Hi Bruce,

Two things to check out:

1. Make sure both systems have the same Service Pack and hotfix levels.
2. You can use the STSAdm command to do a backup/restore or export/import.
    If you don't like the STSAdm command line you can check out "STSAdm GUI" or the Import/Export util from http://www.SPSDev.com

Regards,
James.

Answer 2

Thanks James. Both servers have the same service packs etc. I tried the STSAdm command but found it a bit fiddly, so I used the GUI from SPSDev.com which failed. It exported the CAB files from my site without error, but when trying to import the data I got an error saying that the CAB files did not contain files from a MOSS export file. Also, I see that it only allows you to import the data into a web application, and not into a subsite (eg. I need to import the data in http://teamsite/team1).

Any ideas?

Answer 3

STSADM might be a bit difficult to get to know, but it is most likely the way to go to solve your issue here.  Try the following command:

Export the site you wish to move:
stsadm.exe -o export -url http://teamsite/team1 -filename c:\team1.bak -includeusersecurity -versions 4 -nofilecompression

Once that has completed, browse to the site collection where you will be restoring the site to.
Create a new site, and choose the "blank" site template.
Copy the c:\team1.bak file from the server you created it on, to the server you will import it on.

On the server where you will be performing the import:
stsadm.exe -o import -url http://newteamsitelocation/team1 -filename c:\team1.bak -includeusersecurity -nofilecompression

Let us know how that works for you!

Answer 4

I did some further research on the errors you initially reported.  Is the site that you are backing up on SQL 2005, and is your destination on SQL 2000? If that is the case, that would be why you are receiving the error message.  You should still be able to follow the export / import instructions that I provided though.    If you google "The backed-up database has on-disk structure version 611. The server supports version 539 and cannot restore or upgrade this database", you will see quite a few postings regarding people getting this error when trying to go from SQL 2005 to SQL 2000.

Answer 5

Thanks so much David, will try the above and let you know if it works!

Answer 6

Hi David

I tried your suggestion, and was able to successfully export the data. When trying to import I get the following error:

The Web application at http://team.lhh.co.za/vmed could not be found. Verify tha
t you have typed the URL correctly. If the URL should be serving existing conten
t, the system administrator may need to add a new request URL mapping to the int
ended application.

The website definitely does exist and i was able to browse it etc. Any further ideas?

thanks
Bruce

Answer 7

Bruce,
In order to import the site, you have to import it to a site that was created with the blank site template. Let me clarify - you can't have an existing site with data at the destination that you are importing your site to. It won't be able to overwrite that site. 

You can either delete the site that is at the destination, and then create it again, choosing the Blank Site template, or create a site in a new location with the blank site template, and the run the import command that I sent.  You're almost there...let me know if you need any more help.

Answer 8

Hi David

Thanks for your assistance. I deleted the subsite that I had there (which was blank but had been set up with a team site template). I then created it from scratch with the blank site template and thats when I got the error message above. What I was wondering is perhaps whether the sub-site needs to be converted to an application? The only web application I have is the top level site and not the subsite I am trying to import into.

Does this make sense?

thanks
Bruce

Answer 9

Yes, what you said makes sense.  You shouldn't need to create a new web application though.  Just so I understand fully, is this a single server, or farm configuration?  Are you running the stsadm -o import command from the server that has access to the web application?  Can you browse to the site collection from this server? 

Answer 10

Hi

It is a farm configuration, with SQL residing on another server. I have been running the stsadm command on the server running the web application which I can successfully browse in IE.

Answer 11

Can you check which account you have your web application running as, and then run the stsadm command using that account?  To check what account the web application pool is using, go to IIS Manager and expand Application Pools, and locate the application pool that your site is using.  If you don't know which one that is, you can go to the properties of the IIS web site, and go to the home directory tab.  It will tell you at the bottom which application pool it is using.
So...go to the properties of that application pool, and click on the identity tab.  Assuming it's not set to network service, and is a domain account, either log in with that account or open a command prompt using Run As, and run the stsadm command using that account.

Answer 12

Hi David

Excellent! It worked :)

Thanks very much for your assistance, much appreciated.

thanks
Bruce

Answer 13

Hi David

I spoke a bit too early! So it worked for one site that I migrated, but the next site I tried I got an error (below). I have deleted and recreated the site twice and run the import command but still get the same error.

[8/18/2008 11:10:22 AM]: Progress: Importing Folder /vsolutions/enhance/Engineers/Network/Forms/_derived.
[8/18/2008 11:10:22 AM]: FatalError: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at Microsoft.SharePoint.Deployment.FolderSerializer.SetObjectData(Object obj, SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext context, ISurrogateSelector selector)
   at Microsoft.SharePoint.Deployment.XmlFormatter.ParseObject(Type objectType, Boolean isChildObject)
   at Microsoft.SharePoint.Deployment.XmlFormatter.DeserializeObject(Type objectType, Boolean isChildObject, DeploymentObject envelope)
   at Microsoft.SharePoint.Deployment.XmlFormatter.Deserialize(Stream serializationStream)
   at Microsoft.SharePoint.Deployment.ObjectSerializer.Deserialize(Stream serializationStream)
   at Microsoft.SharePoint.Deployment.ImportObjectManager.ProcessObject(XmlReader xmlReader)
   at Microsoft.SharePoint.Deployment.SPImport.DeserializeObjects()
   at Microsoft.SharePoint.Deployment.SPImport.Run()
[8/18/2008 11:10:22 AM]: Progress: Import Completed.
[8/18/2008 11:10:22 AM]: Finish Time: 8/18/2008 11:10:22 AM.
[8/18/2008 11:10:22 AM]: Completed with 0 warnings.
[8/18/2008 11:10:22 AM]: Completed with 1 errors.

Answer 14

Bruce,
Does the site that you are importing have any features enabled on it, or any webparts, that are not enabled or installed at the destination site collection?   I would check that the same features are enabled at the source and destination sites.  Check at the site collection level too, if you can.