Sitecore Website Backup Powershell Script

Depending on the environment, infrastructure, and budget - each Sitecore project has their own backup and deployment process.  More recent solutions often include a file backup step during an automated build process - while others take on a more manual process.

Whatever your specific scenario, my rule of thumb for changing anything is: ALWAYS BACKUP BEFORE MAKING CHANGES.

With solutions using less complex deploy processes - I used to select, copy, and paste specific files and directories to a separate location in case something went completely awry.  To save time - and maintain peace of mind before making file changes to a staging or production environment - I now utilize a handy backup script using Powershell that backs up all necessary files (Robocopy) by simply running it.

To use it:

1. Modify and save the Settings.xml file with your own source and destination paths.
   
   
2. Double-click on RunBackup.bat file.  Once you accept the prompt to run the script as an administrator, you'll see the output of each file being transferred to the destination folder.
   
   
3. Watch it run!
   

The script explicitly excludes the following Sitecore specific paths that often aren't changed from build to build - and don't need to take up more space than needed.  To add/remove an excluded entries,  open and modify the _sitecorebackupscript.ps1 file's '$exclude' variable.

"_DEV", "App_Data", "Content", "temp", "upload", "sitecore", "sitecore modules" 

Settings.xml - Configuration settings

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>  
 <settings>  
      <!-- Date format for Destination folder -->  
      <DateFormat>MM-dd-yyyy hhmmss</DateFormat>  
      <!-- Source Website directory to backup (exclude trailing back-slash) -->  
      <SourceDirectory>C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Sitecore8\Website</SourceDirectory>  
      <!-- Destination directory where backup made (exclude trailing back-slash) -->  
      <BackupDirectory>C:\inetpub\wwwroot-backup\Sitecore8</BackupDirectory>  
 </settings>  

_sitecorebackupscript.ps1: The Powershell script

 <# Sitecore Backup Script - Gabriel Streza (sitecoregabe.com)   
 **************************************************************************  
 Powershell script that backups your Sitecore website while excluding unessesary files.  
   
 Modify Settings.xml to control Source and Directory paths.   
   
 **************************************************************************  
 #>  
   
 # Directory definitions  
 $scriptpath = $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Path  
 $directory = Split-Path $scriptpath  
 [xml]$ConfigFile = Get-Content "$directory\Settings.xml"  
   
 # Script Variable Defintions  
 $DateFormat = Get-Date -format $ConfigFile.Settings.DateFormat  
 $SourceDirectory = $ConfigFile.Settings.SourceDirectory  
 $BackupDirectory = $ConfigFile.Settings.BackupDirectory  
 $dest = $BackupDirectory + '_' + $DateFormat  
   
 # Folders to exclude  
 $exclude = "_DEV", "App_Data", "Content", "temp", "upload", "sitecore", "sitecore modules"  
   
 # Run as Administrator  
 if (!([Security.Principal.WindowsPrincipal][Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()).IsInRole([Security.Principal.WindowsBuiltInRole] "Administrator")) { Start-Process powershell.exe "-NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File `"$PSCommandPath`"" -Verb RunAs; exit }  
   
 # File copy  
 robocopy $SourceDirectory $dest /s /xj /xd $exclude  
   
 # Completed  
 Write-Host -NoNewLine 'DONE! Press any key to continue...';  
 $null = $Host.UI.RawUI.ReadKey('NoEcho,IncludeKeyDown');  

RunBackup.bat: Execute the Powershell script

 Powershell.exe -executionpolicy remotesigned -File "_sitecorebackupscript.ps1"  

You can download, modify, and utilize this by heading to this GitHub repo and grabbing a copy:
https://github.com/strezag/Sitecore-Website-Backup-Script/


Happy backup...ing!