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Moving Sharepoint Services to Via Networks
Overview
The most efficient way to transfer your SharePoint Services site from one host to another is by using FrontPage 2003.
FrontPage 2003 is extraordinarily well integrated into SharePoint Services and, while it is certainly not the preferred
web design tool for many situations, it is the best option for moving SharePoint sites.
There are two main requirements are necessary to successfully move the sites without having to make major modifications.
The first is to use the backup feature in FrontPage, rather than simply republishing the site. The backup feature will
not only move all of the HTML components of the site, but will also preserve all of the SharePoint data components
(except for user information, as this is managed through the server’s control panels or domain controllers).
The second is to restore the backup to a completely empty SharePoint site. If there are any data or templates on the site,
the restore process will not work. However, if the site is completely empty, it will restore seamlessly.
Creating the FrontPage Backup
To successfully create a site backup, you need to open the site in FrontPage 2003. From the "Tools" menu, choose "Server",
and then "Back up website" as shown in figure 1.
Figure 1
You will then get a confirmation dialog box as in figure 2. Click OK.
Figure 2
Next, you will be prompted for a location of the backup. Choose a file name and location and continue. You have now successfully
created a FrontPage Backup File with the .fwp extension.
Installing SharePoint Services
In order to restore the backup file, you will first need to install SharePoint Services ValueApp. This is done in the Sphera Control Panel
located at http://YOURDOMAIN.COM/manager. Click on the ValueApps icon. Here you should see Microsoft SharePoint Services listed as an
available application, as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3
Click on Microsoft SharePoint Services to install SharePoint to your site. When it is successfully installed you should no longer see SharePoint
as an available applications. Rather, it should be listed as an Installed ValueApp, as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4
It is important that you DO NOT ACCESS YOUR SHAREPOINT DOMAIN FROM AN INTERNET BROWSER. Doing so will install a template at your SharePoint
site and it will be impossible to restore the backup file.
Note: If you accidentally went to the SharePoint site in your browser and are now unable to restore the backup file, you will need to uninstall the
SharePoint ValueApp and reinstall it from the beginning.
Restoring Your SharePoint Site to Via Net.works.
Open FrontPage 2003 and choose "Open Site" from the "File" menu, as seen in Figure 5.
Figure 5
In the "Site Name" box, enter your domain name (i.e. http://www.YOURDOMAIN.COM). You will be prompted to enter your username and password.
NOTE: Your username needs to be in the form of USERNAME@YOURDOMAIN.COM in order to connect.
Once you have connected, you should see an empty directory structure, as shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6
Now you can restore the website by going to the "Tools" menu, choose "Server", and then "Restore website" as shown in figure 7.
Figure 7
You will be prompted for the location of the backup file you created earlier. Navigate to that file and click "Open." Finally, you will get
a dialog confirming that you want to restore the website. Click OK. When you see the dialog box in Figure 8, you are complete. You are now
able to access your website using your web browser.
Figure 8
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