Document farm configuration settings in SharePoint Server

Article
01/20/2023

APPLIES TO: yes-img-13 2013 yes-img-16 2016 yes-img-19 2019 yes-img-se Subscription Edition no-img-sop SharePoint in Microsoft 365

You can document your farm configuration settings in SharePoint Server by using PowerShell.

Documenting configuration settings is important both so that you can create scripted deployments for your environment and so that you can quickly re-create a set of configurations if a failure were to occur.

Using PowerShell to document farm configuration settings in SharePoint Server

The following procedure describes how to create and run a PowerShell script for SharePoint Server. You can then use this script to restore the farm configuration settings if a failure were to occur.

To document SharePoint Server configuration settings by using PowerShell

Verify that you have the following memberships:

securityadmin fixed server role on the SQL Server instance.
db_owner fixed database role on all databases that are to be updated.
Administrators group on the server on which you are running PowerShell cmdlets.
You must read about_Execution_Policies (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=193050).

An administrator can use the Add-SPShellAdmin cmdlet to grant permissions to use SharePoint Server cmdlets.

Note

If you do not have permissions, contact your Setup administrator or SQL Server administrator to request permissions. For additional information about PowerShell permissions, see Permissions and Add-SPShellAdmin.

Use a text editor, such as Notepad, to create a text file by pasting the following code into the file. The commands in the example create XML files that document the configurations of the Web applications and service applications in the current farm. Choose only those commands that are relevant to your environment.

##
## Common SharePoint configuration settings
##
#Retrieve Web Application information. The default depth of 2 does not return much detail--we recommend that you use a depth of 4 for this cmdlet.
Get-SPWebApplication | Export-Clixml .\WebAppFilename.xml -depth 4
#Retrieve custom layout information. 
Get-SPWebApplication | Get-SPCustomLayoutsPage | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPCustomLayoutsPage.xml
#Determine how SharePoint designer access is configured.
Get-SPWebApplication | Get-SPDesignerSettings  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPDesignerSettings.xml
#Retrieve information about alternate access mapping
Get-SPAlternateURL  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPAlternateURL.xml
#Retrieve information about content databases
Get-SPContentDatabase  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPContentDatabase.xml
#Retrieve database properties for each database
Get-SPDatabase  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPDatabase.xml
#Retrieve information about all SharePoint Products installed in the farm, and the versions of all updates installed for each product.
Get-SPProduct  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPProduct.xml
#Retrieve farm information
Get-SPFarm  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPFarm.xml
Get-SPFarmConfig  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPFarmConfig.xml
#Retrieve information about the servers in the farm
Get-SPServer  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPServer.xml
#Retrieve information about installed features
Get-SPFeature  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPFeature.xml
#Retrieve information about globally-installed site templates
Get-SPWebTemplate  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPWebTemplate.xml
#Retrieve information about deployed solutions
Get-SPSolution  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPSolution.xml
#Retrieve information about sandboxed solutions deployed in a site collection
Get-SPSite | Get-SPUserSolution  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPUserSolution.xml
#Retrieve information about claims authentication
Get-SPTrustedIdentityTokenIssuer  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPTrustedIdentityTokenIssuer.xml
Get-SPTrustedServiceTokenIssuer  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPTrustedServiceTokenIssuer.xml
Get-SPTrustedRootAuthority  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPTrustedRootAuthority.xml
#Retrieve information about installed Help
Get-SPHelpCollection  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPHelpCollection.xml
#Retrieve information about the logging levels that have been set
Get-SPLogLevel  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPLogLevel.xml
#Retrieve information about the sites in the farm
Get-SPSite  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPSite.xml
Get-SPSiteAdministration  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPSiteAdministration.xml
Get-SPSiteSubscription  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPSiteSubscription.xml
#Retrieve ULS logging information
Get-SPDiagnosticConfig  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPDiagnosticConfig.xml
Get-SPDiagnosticsPerformanceCounter  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPDiagnosticsPerformanceCounter.xml
Get-SPDiagnosticsProvider  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPDiagnosticsProvider.xml
#Retrieve information about accounts registered in the configuration database
Get-SPManagedAccount  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPManagedAccount.xml
Get-SPProcessAccount  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPProcessAccount.xml
Get-SPShellAdmin  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPShellAdmin.xml
#Retrieve specific information about the certificate authority
Get-SPCertificateAuthority  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPCertificateAuthority.xml
Get-SPClaimProvider  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPClaimProvider.xml
Get-SPClaimProviderManager  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPClaimProviderManager.xml
#Retrieve information about content deployment jobs
Get-SPContentDeploymentJob | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPContentDeploymentJob.xml
Get-SPContentDeploymentPath | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPContentDeploymentPath.xml
#Retrieve information about the Mobile Messaging account.
Get-SPWebApplication | Get-SPMobileMessagingAccount  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPMobileMessagingAccount.xml
##
##Common service infrastructure settings
##
#Retrieve information about the service applications in the farm
Get-SPServiceApplication  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPServiceApplication.xml
Get-SPServiceApplicationPool  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPServiceApplicationPool.xml
Get-SPServiceApplicationProxy  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPServiceApplicationProxy.xml
Get-SPServiceApplicationProxyGroup  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPServiceApplicationProxyGroup.xml
Get-SPServiceApplication | Get-SPServiceApplicationEndpoint  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPServiceApplicationEndpoint.xml
#Retrieve information about the services running in the farm
Get-SPServiceInstance  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPServiceInstance.xml
#Retrieve information about InfoPath form services
Get-SPInfoPathFormsService  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPInfoPathFormsService.xml
Get-SPInfoPathFormTemplate  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPInfoPathFormTemplate.xml
###WARNING: The following cmdlet requires  run as administrator rights. 
Get-SPInfoPathUserAgent  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPInfoPathUserAgent.xml
#Retrieve information about common Web service settings
Get-SPServiceHostConfig  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPServiceHostConfig.xml
##
## Common service application settings
##
#Access Services
#Retrieve specific information for the Access Services service application
Get-SPAccessServiceApplication  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPAccessServiceApplication.xml
#Application Discovery and Load Balancer Service Application 
Get-SPTopologyServiceApplication  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPTopologyServiceApplication.xml
Get-SPTopologyServiceApplicationProxy  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPTopologyServiceApplicationProxy.xml
#Business Data Connectivity Service
#Retrieve information about data connection files. ###WARNING: The following cmdlet requires  run as administrator rights
Get-SPDataConnectionFile | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPDataConnectionFile.xml
###WARNING: The following cmdlet requires  run as administrator rights
Get-SPDataConnectionFile | Get-SPDataConnectionFileDependent  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPDataConnectionFileDependent.xml
#Excel Services Application
#Note: An Excel service application must be provisioned for the following cmdlets to succeed. 
Get-SPExcelServiceApplication | Get-SPExcelBlockedFileType  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPExcelBlockedFileType.xml
Get-SPExcelServiceApplication | Get-SPExcelDataConnectionLibrary  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPExcelDataConnectionLibrary.xml
Get-SPExcelServiceApplication | Get-SPExcelDataProvider  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPExcelDataProvider.xml
Get-SPExcelServiceApplication | Get-SPExcelFileLocation  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPExcelFileLocation.xml
Get-SPExcelServiceApplication | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPExcelServiceApplication.xml
Get-SPExcelServiceApplication | Get-SPExcelUserDefinedFunction  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPExcelUserDefinedFunction.xml
Get-SPWebApplication | Get-SPInfoPathWebServiceProxy  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPInfoPathWebServiceProxy.xml
Get-SPWebApplication | Get-SPManagedPath  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPManagedPath.xml
 
#Managed Metadata Service
#Note: A Managed Metadata service application must be provisioned for the following cmdlets to succeed. 
Get-SPServiceApplication | ?{$_.TypeName -eq "Managed Metadata Service"} | %{$id = $_.Id;Get-SPMetadataServiceApplication -Id $_ | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPMetadataServiceApplication-$id.xml}
Get-SPServiceApplicationProxy | ?{$_.TypeName -eq "Managed Metadata Service Connection"} | %{$id = $_.Id;Get-SPMetadataServiceApplicationProxy -Id $_ | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPMetadataServiceApplicationProxy-$id.xml}
Get-SPSite | Get-SPTaxonomySession  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPTaxonomySession.xml
#PerformancePoint Service Application
#Note: A PerformancePoint service application must be provisioned for the following cmdlets to succeed. 
Get-SPPerformancePointServiceApplication | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPPerformancePointServiceApplication.xml
Get-SPPerformancePointServiceApplication | Get-SPPerformancePointServiceApplicationTrustedLocation  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPPerformancePointServiceApplicationTrustedLocation.xml
#Search 
#Retrieve search information
#Note:  A Search service application must be provisioned for the following cmdlets to succeed. 
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchAdministrationComponent  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchAdministrationComponent.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchCrawlContentSource  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchCrawlContentSource.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchCrawlCustomConnector  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchCrawlCustomConnector.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchCrawlDatabase  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchCrawlDatabase.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchCrawlExtension  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchCrawlExtension.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchCrawlMapping  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchCrawlMapping.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchCrawlRule  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchCrawlRule.xml
$searchApp = Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication; Get-SPEnterpriseSearchExtendedClickThroughExtractorJobDefinition -SearchApplication $searchApp | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchExtendedClickThroughExtractorJobDefinition.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchExtendedConnectorProperty  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchExtendedConnectorProperty.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchExtendedQueryProperty  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchExtendedQueryProperty.xml
###WARNING: The following command generates a 120MB file that records the out of the box settings###
#Note: The Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQueryAuthority and Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQueryDemoted cmdlets require the Owner and SearchApplication parameters#
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchLanguageResourcePhrase  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchLanguageResourcePhrase.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchMetadataCategory  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchMetadataCategory.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchMetadataCrawledProperty  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchMetadataCrawledProperty.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchMetadataManagedProperty  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchMetadataManagedProperty.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchMetadataMapping  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchMetadataMapping.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQueryAuthority  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQueryAuthority.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQueryDemoted  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQueryDemoted.xml
 Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQueryAndSiteSettingsService  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQueryAndSiteSettingsService.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQueryAndSiteSettingsServiceInstance  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQueryAndSiteSettingsServiceInstance.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQueryAndSiteSettingsServiceProxy  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQueryAndSiteSettingsServiceProxy.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchService  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchService.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance.xml
###WARNING: The following command generates a file per site collection###
#Note: The Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQuerySuggestionCandidates and Get-SPEnterpriseSearchRankingModel cmdlets require the Owner and SearchApplication parameters#
Get-SPSite | %{$id = $_.Id;Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQueryKeyword -Site $_ | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQueryKeyword-$id.xml}
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQueryScope  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQueryScope.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQueryScope | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQueryScopeRule  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQueryScopeRule.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQuerySuggestionCandidates  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchQuerySuggestionCandidates.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchRankingModel  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchRankingModel.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchSecurityTrimmer  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchSecurityTrimmer.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplicationProxy  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplicationProxy.xml
Get-SPEnterpriseSearchSiteHitRule  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPEnterpriseSearchSiteHitRule.xml
#Security Token Service Application
#Retrieve information about the security token service used for incoming SOAP messages.
Get-SPSecurityTokenServiceConfig  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPSecurityTokenServiceConfig.xml
#State Service
#Retrieve information about the State Service.
Get-SPSessionStateService  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPSessionStateService.xml
Get-SPStateServiceApplication  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPStateServiceApplication.xml
Get-SPStateServiceApplicationProxy  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPStateServiceApplicationProxy.xml
Get-SPStateServiceDatabase  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPStateServiceDatabase.xml
#Usage and Health data collection
#Retrieve information about the Usage and Health Data Collection service application.
Get-SPUsageApplication  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPUsageApplication.xml
Get-SPUsageDefinition  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPUsageDefinition.xml
Get-SPUsageService  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPUsageService.xml
#Visio Service
#A Visio service application must be provisioned for the following cmdlets to succeed.
Get-SPVisioServiceApplication | Get-SPVisioExternalData  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPVisioExternalData.xml
Get-SPVisioServiceApplication | Get-SPVisioPerformance  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPVisioPerformance.xml
Get-SPVisioServiceApplication | Get-SPVisioSafeDataProvider  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPVisioSafeDataProvider.xml
Get-SPVisioServiceApplication | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPVisioServiceApplication.xml
Get-SPVisioServiceApplicationProxy  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPVisioServiceApplicationProxy.xml
#Web Analytics Service Application
A Web Analytics service application must be provisioned for the following cmdlets to succeed.
Get-SPServiceApplication | ?{$_.TypeName -eq "Web Analytics Service Application"} | %{$id = $_.Id;Get-SPWebAnalyticsServiceApplication -Id $_ | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPWebAnalyticsServiceApplication-$id.xml}
Get-SPServiceApplicationProxy | ?{$_.TypeName -eq "Web Analytics Service Application Proxy"} | %{$id = $_.Id;Get-SPWebAnalyticsServiceApplicationProxy -Id $_ | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPWebAnalyticsServiceApplicationProxy-$id.xml}
Get-SPWebApplication | Get-SPWebApplicationHttpThrottlingMonitor  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPWebApplicationHttpThrottlingMonitor.xml
Get-SPWebPartPack  | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPWebPartPack.xml
#Word Automation Services
###Note: These cmdlets are commented out because you are unlikely to want to run them. ###
#Get-SPSite | %{$web=Get-SPWeb $_.Url;$webid=$web.Id;$web | Get-SPUser | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPUser-$webid.xml}
# Get-SPSite | %{$web=Get-SPWeb $_.Url;$webid=$web.Id;$web | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPWeb-$webid.xml}

Save the file and add the .ps1 extension, such as SuggestedNameOfFile.ps1.

Note

You can use a different file name, but you must save the file as an ANSI-encoded text file whose extension is .ps1.
Start the SharePoint Management Shell.
Change to the directory where you saved the file.
At the PowerShell command prompt, type the following command:

./SuggestedFileName.ps1

For more information, see Export-Clixml, Get-SPWebApplication, Get-SPServiceApplication.

Note

We recommend that you use Microsoft PowerShell when performing command-line administrative tasks. The Stsadm command-line tool has been deprecated, but is included to support compatibility with previous product versions.

Example of using a cmdlet in SharePoint Server

This section provides an example of ways that you can use one of the recommended cmdlets.

The Get-SPAlternateURL cmdlet provides information about alternate access mapping. Piping the cmdlet to the Export-Clixml cmdlet writes the information to an XML file.

Get-SPAlternateURL | Export-Clixml .\Get-SPAlternateURL.xml

The following section lists the content of the Get-SPAlternateURL.xml file. Some sections are collapsed.

- <Objs Version="1.1.0.1" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/powershell/2004/04">
+ <Obj RefId="0">
- <Obj RefId="7">
  <TNRef RefId="0" /> 
  <ToString>Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPAlternateUrl</ToString> 
- <Props>
  <S N="IncomingUrl">http://servername</S> 
  <URI N="Uri">http://servername/</URI> 
+ <Obj N="UrlZone" RefId="8">
- <Obj N="Collection" RefId="9">
  <TNRef RefId="2" /> 
- <IE>
- <Obj RefId="10">
  <TNRef RefId="0" /> 
  <ToString>Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPAlternateUrl</ToString> 
+ <Props>
- <MS>
  <S N="Zone">Default</S> 
  <S N="PublicUrl">http://servername</S> 
  </MS>
  </Obj>
  </IE>
- <Props>
  <I32 N="Count">1</I32> 
  <B N="IsReadOnly">false</B> 
  <S N="TypeName">Alternate Access Mapping Collection</S> 
  <S N="DisplayName">SharePoint - 80</S> 
  <U64 N="DiskSizeRequired">0</U64> 
  <B N="CanSelectForBackup">false</B> 
  <B N="CanRenameOnRestore">false</B> 
  <B N="CanSelectForRestore">false</B> 
  <S N="Name">SharePoint - 80</S> 
  <G N="Id">5b65a69a-222d-4fe0-904b-0fb928bc7a89</G> 
  <S N="Status">Online</S> 
  <S N="Parent">SPFarm Name=SERVERNAME_SharePoint_Configuration_Database</S> 
  <I64 N="Version">3661</I64> 
+ <Obj N="Properties" RefId="12">
  <TNRef RefId="3" /> 
  <DCT /> 
  </Obj>
  <S N="Farm">SPFarm Name=SERVERNAME_SharePoint_Configuration_Database</S> 
  <Ref N="UpgradedPersistedProperties" RefId="11" /> 
  </Props>
  </Obj>
  <Ref N="UpgradedPersistedProperties" RefId="11" /> 
  </Props>
+ <MS>
+ <Obj N="Zone" RefId="13">
  <TNRef RefId="1" /> 
  <ToString>Default</ToString> 
  <I32>0</I32> 
  </Obj>
  <S N="PublicUrl">http://servername</S> 
  </MS>
  </Obj>
  </Objs>

This example imports the output from the XML file so that you can see its contents more easily.

Import-Clixml .\Get-SPAlternateURL.xml

Once an XML file is imported, you can use the objects in the pipeline as if they were real objects of the given type.

Import-Clixml .\Get-SPAlternateURL.xml | %{$_.Uri}

You can also pipe the objects as part of the cmdlet, and view all of the expected properties, methods, and TypeNames. The following example pipes URIs.

Import-Clixml .\Get-SPAlternateURL.xml | %{$_.Uri | Get-Member}

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Document farm configuration settings in SharePoint Server

Using PowerShell to document farm configuration settings in SharePoint Server

Example of using a cmdlet in SharePoint Server

See also

Other Resources

Additional resources