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Capture and restore content by using SharePoint Designer (Windows SharePoint Server 3.0)

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Applies To: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0

 

Topic Last Modified: 2009-03-25

Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 provides the ability to back up and restore site collections — down to the individual file level — and to remove them from the network for offline use. Backing up a Web site by using Office SharePoint Designer 2007 creates a content migration package (that is, a .cmp file). When you back up a Web site, you can choose to back up either the top-level Web site or the top-level Web site and any subsites. The backup file that you create includes list or library content, security settings, user information, navigation, customizations, and personalizations (such as views, site templates, and content types). The backup file does not include workflows, alerts, and properties stored at the site-collection level.

Restoring a Web site from Office SharePoint Designer 2007 requires that you create a new empty Web site and then restore the backup file to that site.

Important

If you have not installed Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 with Service Pack 2 (SP2), backups that are performed by using Office SharePoint Designer are limited to 25 megabytes (MB). After you install Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 with SP2, the limit is increased to 2 gigabytes (GB).

Capture site content by using SharePoint Designer

This procedure can help you use the Backup feature in Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 to make a backup copy of the content of a site or subsite.

Before you perform this procedure, confirm that you have read the topic Plan for backup and recovery (Windows SharePoint Services).

Important

To back up a site, you must be a site owner for that site, but you do not need administrative access to the server that is running Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.

Back up a site by using SharePoint Designer

  1. In Office SharePoint Designer 2007, on the File menu, click Open Site.

  2. In the Open Site dialog box, browse to and click the Web site that you want to back up, and then click Open.

  3. On the Site menu, point to Administration, and then click Backup Web Site.

  4. In the Backup Web Site dialog box, to include all subsites of the current Web site in the backup, select the Include subsites in archive check box.

  5. If the current Web site is low on available storage space, click Advanced, specify a new location, and then click OK.

    Backing up a Web site requires a location to store temporary backup files. By default, Office SharePoint Designer 2007 uses the current Web site. You can use another site on the same server or a location on another server on the same network — for example, \\Server name\Share name.

  6. In the Backup Web Site dialog box, click OK.

  7. In the File Save dialog box, choose a location to store the .cmp file.

  8. In the File name box, type the name for the file, and then click Save.

    If the site that you are backing up or restoring is large, the process can take a long time.

Restore site content by using SharePoint Designer

This procedure can help you use Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 to restore a site.

Before you perform this procedure, confirm that you have read the topic Plan for backup and recovery (Windows SharePoint Services).

Restore a site by using SharePoint Designer

  1. Create a new, empty Web site as a destination site

    1. In Office SharePoint Designer 2007, on the File menu, click New.

    2. In the New dialog box, on the Web Site tab, click General, and then click Empty Web Site.

    3. In the Specify the location of the new Web site box, type or browse to the location to which you want to restore the backup site.

      You can restore the site to a different server and you can restore it as either a new top-level site or a subsite under an existing top-level site.

    4. Click OK.

  2. Restore the backup file to the destination site

    1. With the destination site open, on the Site menu, point to Administration, and then click Restore Web Site.

    2. In the File Open dialog box, browse to and click the .cmp file that you want to restore, and then click Open.

    3. In the Restore Web Site dialog box, click OK to confirm that you want to restore the .cmp file to the current empty Web site.

      If the site that you are backing up or restoring is large, the process can take a long time.

See Also

Concepts

Use alternative methods to back up and restore content (Windows SharePoint Server 3.0)
Capture and restore content by using the Web site delete event (Windows SharePoint Server 3.0)
Archive and retrieve content by using Stsadm import and export operations (Windows SharePoint Server 3.0)
Archive site versions by using database snapshots (Windows SharePoint Server 3.0)