Copy-SPSite: Clone SharePoint Site Collection using PowerShell

The Copy-SPSite is a new feature introduced in SharePoint 2013 that allows us to copy an existing site collection into a new site collection. Copy-SPSite cmdlet clones/duplicates an existing site collection into a new one. Optionally, You can specify the “Destination Database” parameter to copy the site collection into a new database.

Copy-SPSite Example:

Syntax: 

Copy-SPSite {Source-Site-Collection-URL} [-DestinationDatabase {Destination-Database-Name}] -TargetUrl {Target-Site-Collection-URL}

Example:

Copy-SPSite https://intranet.crescent.com/sites/sales -TargetUrl https://intranet.crescent.com/sites/sales2 -DestinationDatabase SP13_Intranet_ContentDB005

This gets you a duplicate of a site collection on a new URL!

Using Copy-SPSite cmdlet to rename existing site collection:

To rename site collections, we followed the backup-delete-restore process as in my other article: Rename site collection in SharePoint 2010 using PowerShell. Of course, there is a risk involved as you delete site collections – There are chances to lose data. Fortunately, SharePoint 2013 came with new functionality, “Copy-SPSite”. As the name suggests, It’s used to copy the SharePoint site under a new name (URL) without any risk of losing data!

Copy SharePoint site to another web application

While it’s straightforward to copy the site to different site collections, I had a few glitches while copying the SharePoint site to another web application. Copy SharePoint site to another web application using Copy-SPSite doesn’t work!
Copy-SPSite : The site collection being moved and the destination content database must be within the same Web application.

Solution:

Use Backup-SPSite and Restore-SPSite cmdlets!

Copying Host Named Site Collections
I tried to copy a SharePoint site to another on path-based site collections, and It went through well. But when I tried copying a host-named site collection, I ended up with an error!

Copy-SPSite -Identity 'https://sales.crescent.com' -TargetUrl 'https://sales2.crescent.com' -HostHeaderWebApplication 'https://hosting.com'

And got this error:
Copy-SPSite : Another site already exists at https://sales.crescent.com/. Delete this site before attempting to create a new site with the same URL, choose a new URL, or create a new inclusion at the path you originally specified.

Workaround: Remove site URL and then run copy site!

Remove-SPSiteURL -URL https://your-hnsc-site-url