Content Deployment Writeup

To start content deployment:

On the target server:

1) Goto central admin -> operations -> Content Deployment Settings:

Check "Accept Incoming Content Deployment Jobs"
Check "Do not require encryption"
Press OK.

2) Create a new site collection using blank template (creating a new web application is not necessary but if it is required, please create one)

On the source server:

1) Goto central admin -> operations -> Content Deployment Path and Jobs -> Click "New Path" button

Type a path name (for your reference)
Select a web application you want to deploy
Type the target server central admin URL
Check "Connect using different account"
Check "use integrated windows authentication"
specify target server central admin user name and password (use two part login format: mindtree\spadmin and password)
Click Connect
If you come across any errors, please fix accordingly and click connect before proceeding (If succeeded, connection succeeded message will be displayed)
Select destination (target) web application and site collection (select above created blank template site collection)
Set security information to none for now.
Click OK

2) Goto central admin -> operations -> Content Deployment Path and Jobs -> Click "New Job" button

Type job name (for your reference)
Select above created path name
Leave rest all options as default
Click OK

3) Goto central admin -> operations -> Content Deployment Path and Jobs

Select the job newly created, in the menu click "Run Now" option
Wait for few seconds and refresh the page
Status message of job will change to "Running" with a link associated with it.
Click on Running link.
You will see the progress.

If there are any errors, please diagnose it accordingly (it is rare if it works with out any errors for the first time). Ignore warnings.

If succeeds, then please do IISRESET on target server and open the site collection in browser.

Known errors:

1) Failed to process feature PremiumRootSite.

On the target server:

Copy following folders from MOSS Beta2TR to MOSS RTM version (for some reason they were not included in RTM release). I believe that there may be some other way.

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\FEATURES\PremiumRootSite
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\FEATURES\PremiumRootSiteStapling

If you do not have them, please see the attachment.

Now goto command prompt:

Change directory to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\bin
Execute the following:
stsadm -o installfeature -filename PremiumRootSite\feature.xml
(this should succeed)
stsadm -o installfeature -filename PremiumRootSiteStapling\feature.xml
(this may fail, but nothing to worry about)
stsadm -o activatefeature -name PremiumRootSite -url
(this should succeed)
stsadm -o activatefeature -name PremiumRootSiteStapling -url
(this may fail, but nothing to worry about)

2) List/Item with ID already exists:

Delete the target site/site collection and re-create it

3) Use logs to understand the failures: Log files are created under C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\logs

4) For collaboration site, reports center wil be create when deployed (even if it was removed from source). Fix: delete on target server.

5) Search scopes may not be sent to target server. Search configuration should be re-done as in development server.

Please note that, any changes you made to the WSS files (or newly added), will not be carried over to target server using content deployment. They have to performed manually or have to write custom content deployment jobs.

WSS files are located under: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12

If you come across any problems, please let me know.