SPSDBMove

Backup, copy, and restore SharePoint SQL databases across SQL Server instances — designed for two common scenarios:

• SharePoint Server 2016 / 2019 → Subscription Edition migrations.
• PROD → PRE-PROD content refreshes.

SPSDBMove is a single PowerShell script that orchestrates the three phases end-to-end (or any phase individually):

1. Backup — BACKUP DATABASE ... WITH COPY_ONLY, COMPRESSION, CHECKSUM on the source instance, written into a per-database folder layout (<root>\<DbName>\FULL\<DbName>_<timestamp>.bak).
2. Copy — parallel file copy of the latest .bak per database from the source share to the destination share.
3. Restore — RESTORE DATABASE ... WITH REPLACE, RECOVERY on the destination instance, with automatic logical-to-physical file remapping.

Companion project: luigilink/SPSUpdate.

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Requirements

Component	Version
PowerShell	7.0 or later (the Copy phase uses ForEach-Object -Parallel)
SqlServer module	21.1.18256 or later
Source SQL Server	2016 / 2017 / 2019 / 2022
Destination SQL Server	2019 / 2022 (SharePoint SE compatible)
Account rights	dbcreator + BACKUP DATABASE on source; dbcreator on destination; read/write on both backup shares

Install the SQL module once:

Install-Module -Name SqlServer -Scope CurrentUser -Force

Quick start

SPSDBMove is configuration-driven: the job (instances, backup roots, database list, tuning) lives in a small JSON file; the CLI takes only the config path, the phase to run, and a couple of runtime flags.

1. Copy the sample config and edit it for your environment:

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

2. Run the full pipeline (backup → copy → restore):

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

Run a single phase

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

CLI surface

Parameter	Purpose
-ConfigPath (alias -Path)	Required. Path to the JSON job file.
-Action	All (default), Backup, Copy, or Restore.
-SqlCredential	Optional [pscredential] for SQL auth. Kept on the CLI so secrets stay out of the JSON.
-SkipExisting	Copy phase only: skip files already at the destination with the same size.
-WhatIf / -Confirm	Standard PowerShell, honored by every destructive operation.

Everything else (SourceInstance, DestinationInstance, SourceBackupRoot, DestinationBackupRoot, DataFileDirectory, LogFileDirectory, ThrottleLimit, OverwriteDestinationDb, Databases, ExcludeDatabases) belongs in the JSON file. See scripts/SPSDBMove.sample.json and Configuration.

Dry-run

SPSDBMove honours -WhatIf for every destructive operation:

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

Documentation

Full documentation lives in the wiki:

• Home
• Getting Started
• Configuration
• Usage

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. Bug reports and feature requests use the issue templates.

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md and the latest release notes.

License

MIT © 2026 Jean-Cyril Drouhin.