SharePoint Content Deployment Wizard

Project Description

UPDATE: Release 2.0 beta released 25 March 2009 with source code - see Release 2.0 beta page for release notes. This is not the default release since it's in beta, so you need to use this link to download this version.

The SharePoint Content Deployment Wizard is a tool for SharePoint 2007 which provides the means to deploy the following content:

- site collections
- webs
- lists
- folders
- list items (including files)

Content is exported using the Content Migration API (PRIME) as a .cmp file (Content Migration Package) which can be copied to other servers for import. Unlike the out-of-the-box tools, the Wizard allows *granular* selection of content via a treeview.

The two screenshots which probably illustrate the concept of the tool best are:

Export selection screen:



Import settings screen:



N.B. The import operation overwrites your site data, always take a backup before importing.

More details (taken from readme)

Usage notes

• The tool must be installed locally on the server which hosts the site
• Site URL - enter using format http://source.test.dev
• Import web URL - enter using format http://target.com/targetweb
• See 'permissions' note lower down

Import/Export characteristics

Since the Content Migration API is used, imports/exports have the following characteristics:

• dependencies of selected content (e.g. referenced CSS files, master pages) are automatically included in the export - check 'Exclude dependencies of selected objects' to disable this
• all required content types, columns etc. are automatically included in the export
• in contrast to STSADM export, it is possible to retain GUIDs during deployment (where objects are not being reparented) - check 'Retain object IDs and locations' to enable this
• no filesystem files (assemblies, SharePoint Solutions/Features etc.) are deployed - these must already be present on the target for the import to succeed)
• the following content does not get captured by the Content Migration API - alerts, audit trail, change log history, recycle-bin items, workflow tasks/state

Reparenting

Reparenting of objects such as webs and lists is possible with the following usage on the import:

- enter the URL for the target web in the 'Import web URL' textbox
- ensure 'Retain object IDs and locations' is not checked

Permissions

The Content Migration API (PRIME) is used to package the content as a .cmp file, which can be copied to another
server for import. The application MUST be run from the SharePoint server(s), and MUST be run under the context
of an account which has appropriate SharePoint permissions - currently the way to specify an alternative user
to the currently-logged on user is by using the 'Run as..' feature in Windows 2003 (right-click on the .exe and
select 'Run as..').

See my blog post 'Introducing the SharePoint Content Deployment Wizard' for more screenshots and information - http://www.sharepointnutsandbolts.com/2007/12/introducing-sharepoint-content.html

Chris O'Brien
http://feeds.feedburner.com/ChrisObrien