Microsoft’s KB contains an article now that describes how to move a WSS site from one to another server using FrontPage 2003. The basic idea is that a package is created which is deployed on another server.
For empty sites this is a great and easy solution. Content as in listitems are not moved this way, but documents are.
“Use the Packages feature to export and to import a Windows SharePoint Services Web site
You can use the Packages feature to move a Web site as empty content. When a Web site is moved as empty content, list data that is part of the original Web site does not move with the Web pages in the package. However, documents in a document library are packaged and will be moved with the Web pages in the package.
To use the Packages feature to move a Windows SharePoint Services Web site from one server to another, follow these steps: 1. Start FrontPage 2003, click File, and then click Open site.
2. In the "Look In" list, locate your source Web site, and then click Open.
3. Click Tools, click Packages, and then click Export.
4. In the "Files in Web site" list, click the Web site folder, and then click Add.
5. Click OK.
6. In the Save in box, click the folder where you want to save your Web package, click Open, and then click Save.
7. When you receive the message that states that the Web package has been saved, click OK.
8. Click Tools, point to Packages, and then click Import.
9. In the "Look In" list, open the folder where you saved your Web package, click the Web package file, and then click Open.
10. In the Destination box, type the URL of the Web server where you want to import the Web site package.
Alternatively, you can click Browse to locate the Web server where you want to import the Web site package.
11. Click Import.
12. In the Security Warning dialog box, click Yes.
13. In the Web Package Your_Package_Name deployment complete dialog box, click OK.
Back up your Windows SharePoint Services Web site
Use the Backup and Restore feature to back up the Windows SharePoint Services Web site from one server and then restore the Web site to another server. To back up your Windows SharePoint Services Web site, follow these steps: 1. Start FrontPage 2003, click File, and then click Open site.
2. In the "Look In" list, locate your source Web site, and then click Open.
3. Click Tools, point to Server, and then click Backup Web Site.
4. In the Backup Web Site dialog box, click to select the Include subsites in archive check box, and then click OK.
5. In the File Save dialog box, click the folder where you want to save the Web site backup, and then click Open.
6. In the File Name box, type a name for the backup file, and then click Save.
7. In the Web site backup completed successfully dialog box, click OK.
8. Click File, and then click Close Site.
Restore your Windows SharePoint Services Web site
Restore your Windows SharePoint Services Web site to a new Web site that does not have a template applied. To restore your Windows SharePoint Services Web site, create a new Web site at the root of the virtual server or to a subsite of your virtual server. You can then use Restore Web Site to move your Windows SharePoint Services Web site to the new Web site.
Note Permissions will not migrate with the Web site when it is restored from backup.
To restore your Windows SharePoint Services Web site, follow these steps: 1. Start Microsoft Internet Explorer, and then locate your Team Web Site Home page on your Windows SharePoint Services Web site.
2. At the top of the Home page, click Site Settings.
3. On the Site Settings page, click Manage Sites and Workspaces.
4. On the Sites and Workspaces page, click Create.
5. On the New SharePoint Site page, in the Title box, type the title that you want to give the Web page.
6. In the URL name box, type the name that you want to use for the URL of the Web page.
7. Click Create.
8. When the Template Selector page opens, quit Internet Explorer. Do not select a template.
9. Start FrontPage 2003.
10. On the File menu, click Open Site.
11. In the Site name box, type the URL of the site that you created in steps 1 through 9, and then click Open.
12. Click Tools, point to Server, and then click Restore Web Site.
13. In the File Open dialog box, open the folder where you saved the Web site backup file.
14. Click your Web site backup file, and then click Open.
15. In the Restore Web Site dialog box, click OK.
16. In the Web site restore completed successfully dialog box, click OK. “
Ofcourse when you want to move WSS sites including all content, you can use the SMIGRATE tool that is located in in the bin directory of your SharePoint installation on the SharePoint server (\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\60\bin\). You must have access to the server to use this tool.
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