Backing Up SharePoint Sites Using STSADM

While researching some backup solutions for SharePoint sites, I ran into several blogs that have different kinds of solutions. If you are looking for a batch file that runs STSADM to either perform daily backups automatically, using Scheduled Task, or manually as needed, here are some solutions that you may find useful. I will update this list as I find more solutions.

1. A free VBScript by Jerry Rasmussen that makes a seven day rolling backup of SharePoint.  It will also generate e-mail notifications for administrators.

2. A free PowerShell script by Shahar Gvirtz that uses STSADM. I couldn’t get this to work but James Brundage from Microsoft PowerShell team was able to help me out.

3. For using STSADM utility in SharePoint, check out Todd Klindt’s blog post.

4. The SharePoint 1970 blog has a solution that combines multiple STSADM operations into an automated tool that you can use to backup your site collections.

5. Joel Oleson’s blog has lots of useful information. This blog in particular sums the backup options pretty good: SharePoint Backup Restore, High Availability, and Disaster Recovery.

One thing you should know about STSADM is that it has several limitations. If you can live with these limitations, that’s great. Otherwise, you need to look at other options.

STSADM Limitations

STSADM backup and restore cannot backup and restore the following:

1. The configuration database

2. Alternate Access Mappings

3. Central Administrator Web Application

4. Central Administrator content database

5. Any custom solutions that you may have deployed

6. The Internet Information Services (IIS) metabase