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Getting Started

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GitHub Action edited this page Jun 1, 2026 · 1 revision

Getting Started

This page walks you through your first SPSDBMove run.

1. Prerequisites

Requirement Notes
PowerShell 7.0 or later (pwsh) Required — the Copy phase uses ForEach-Object -Parallel, which is not available on Windows PowerShell 5.1.
SqlServer PowerShell module Install-Module SqlServer -Scope CurrentUser. The script will warn if missing.
Source SQL Server account Must have BACKUP DATABASE on the databases to move (typically db_backupoperator or sysadmin).
Destination SQL Server account Must have dbcreator (or sysadmin) to create restored databases.
Two file shares (or one) A folder reachable by the source SQL service account for write and by the destination SQL service account for read. The script copies between them when they are different.
Free disk space At least 1.5x the size of the largest content database on each share.

2. Install

git clone https://github.com/luigilink/SPSDBMove.git
cd SPSDBMove

Optionally trust the script for the session:

Unblock-File .\scripts\SPSDBMove.ps1

3. Plan the folder layout

SPSDBMove uses a fixed per-database folder layout on both backup roots:

\\sqlprod01\Backup\SPSDBMove\
   |-- SP_Content_Intranet\
   |     `-- FULL\
   |           `-- SP_Content_Intranet_20260528_143012.bak
   |-- SP_Content_Projects\
   |     `-- FULL\
   |           `-- SP_Content_Projects_20260528_143019.bak

The destination share mirrors that layout after the Copy phase.

4. Write your config

SPSDBMove is driven by a JSON job file. Start from the sample:

Copy-Item .\scripts\SPSDBMove.sample.json .\scripts\my-refresh.json
notepad .\scripts\my-refresh.json

Set at least SourceInstance, DestinationInstance, SourceBackupRoot, DestinationBackupRoot, and the Databases array. The other keys have sensible defaults — see Configuration for the full schema.

5. First run (dry-run)

Always start with -WhatIf to verify what the script will do:

.\scripts\SPSDBMove.ps1 -ConfigPath .\scripts\my-refresh.json -WhatIf

Remove -WhatIf to execute for real. To run only one phase:

.\scripts\SPSDBMove.ps1 -ConfigPath .\scripts\my-refresh.json -Action Backup

6. Inspect logs

Each run prints timestamped lines to the console and also appends them to a log file alongside the script:

scripts\Logs\SPSDBMove.log

The Logs folder is created automatically on first run.

Next steps

  • Read Configuration to learn every parameter.
  • Read Usage for the migration and refresh recipes.

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