Backing Up and Restoring with FrontPage 2003

One simple solution to backing up a SharePoint site is to use FrontPage 2003. Because SharePoint is essentially a compilation of web pages and other web-specific information, it can be easily backed up from a utility such as FrontPage.

NOTE

Only the 2003 version of FrontPage supports backing up and even working with SharePoint 2003. It is important to run the proper version before connecting to your WSS site.

Backing Up SharePoint Sites Using FrontPage 2003

To perform a backup of a SharePoint site using FrontPage, perform the following steps:

1.	Open Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003.
2.	Select File, Open Site from the menu.
3.	In the Site Name field, enter the URL of the site that you want to back up (for example, http://servername/sites/marketing). Click Open.
4.	Authenticate if prompted.
5.	Select Tools, Server, Backup Web Site from the menu.
6.	When prompted with the dialog box shown in Figure 19.3, check the box Include Subsites in Archive box (if you want to back up all sites and subsites) and click OK. Figure 19.3. Backing up the SharePoint site with FrontPage.
7.	Enter a name and a location for the backup file that will be created (.fwp file) and click Save.
8.	The backup begins, and a progress bar similar to the one shown in Figure 19.4 is displayed. After it is finished, click OK. Figure 19.4. FrontPage backing up the SharePoint site.

This technique is useful because it can be run from an administrator's desktop in the middle of the day, or after making substantial changes to a site.

CAUTION

Although the FrontPage approach restores most site content, it often does not restore security settings in the same way. You may have to restore some of the security on document libraries and lists after you run the restore. If you want to restore all aspects of a site, you need to use an enterprise tool such as Veritas or use a utility such as STSADM.EXE, which is described in more detail later in this chapter.

Deleting and Re-creating Sites in Anticipation of a Full Restore

If you need to restore the site that you backed up, you first need to make sure that the old site does not exist. In some cases, when rebuilding a server, the site will not exist, but in other cases, such as the site becoming corrupt or losing data, you will need to delete the site first.

CAUTION

Do not perform a deletion of your site unless you are sure that you have a good backup from FrontPage. It may be wise to perform the restore on a separate test server first, before deleting your production site.

To delete a site in anticipation of restoring it from backup, perform the following steps:

1.	From the site home page, click Site Settings on the top link bar.
2.	Under Administration, select Go to Site Administration.
3.	Under Management and Statistics, choose Delete This Site.
4.	When presented with the screen shown in Figure 19.5, select Delete. Figure 19.5. Deleting a SharePoint site so that it can be restored later.
5.	When finished deleting, you are prompted that your site was deleted.

After you delete the site, you must re-create it in Windows SharePoint Services in the same location that it previously was at. The only exception to the standard site creation process is that you should not apply a template when creating the site. To illustrate, when you get to the screen shown in Figure 19.6, do not proceed any further and simply navigate away from the page. If you apply the template, the restore will fail with the message that you can't restore to a site that already has a template applied. You will have to delete the site again and re-create it as a blank site if this happens.

Figure 19.6. When re-creating the site that will be restored, stop at this screen.

Restoring Sites from FrontPage Backups

When you have deleted the original site and created a new site in the same URL location (but without applying the template), you are ready to restore the site using FrontPage. To perform the restore, do the following:

1.	Open Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003.
2.	Select File, Open Site from the menu.
3.	In the Site Name field, enter the URL of the site that you want to back up (for example, http://servername/sites/marketing). Click Open.
4.	Authenticate if prompted.
5.	Select Tools, Server, Restore Web Site from the menu.
6.	Select the .fwp file that you created when you backed up the site previously. Click Open.
7.	Click OK when prompted to restore the site, as shown in Figure 19.7. Figure 19.7. Restoring the SharePoint site.
8.	The restore process begins. Click OK when it completes.