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You can copy an entire Web application to another server or duplicate the application on the same server under a new Web application name. To copy to another directory or another server, you’ll need administrator-level privileges on that server in order to create a new directory. If the destination server does not have Microsoft® FrontPage® extensions, you need to use WebPost and the Posting Acceptor. For more information about WebPost, see Deploying a New Web Application.

To copy a Web application

  1. In the Project Explorer, select the project that points to the Web application you want to copy.

  2. From the Project menu, choose Web Project and then Copy Web Application.

  3. In the Copy Project dialog box, choose the copy of the application you want to copy. Typically, you would choose the master version.

  4. In the Server name box, enter the name of the destination Web server.

  5. In the Web project box, enter the name you want in the URL.

  6. Clear the Copy changed files only checkbox.

Note   If the destination server has a Secured Socket Layer (SSL) certificate and you want to use secure HTTP transmissions during the copy operations, select the Connect using Secured Socket Layer box. For more information about Secured Socket Layers, see Securing HTTP Transmissions (SSL).

  1. Check the options that you want to enable and then choose OK.

    • To copy only files updated or added since the last time the Web was copied, chose Copy changed files only.

    • To copy the Web application as a subfolder to an existing destination Web application, choose Add to an existing Web project. This option merges the files and folders of the Web application you are copying into the destination Web application. The destination Web application must already exist; if it does not, you get an error.

    • If the Web application is the root application and you want to copy all of the Web applications on the source server to the destination server, choose Copy child Webs.

    • If you have components that were marked for server registration and you want to register them on the destination server when they are copied, choose Register server components. For more information about server components in a Web project, see Registering Server Components.

      Note   If you have components marked for server registration in their property pages and you clear this option, those components will be unregistered on the destination server after the operation is complete.

A new application root is created on the Web server and the files in the Web application are copied to that new folder. The name you specified in the Copy Project dialog box becomes part of the application's URL.

You can now perform a final verification of the application. The entire Web application, except its security settings, is duplicated on the destination server under the new name. The newly copied Web application inherits the destination's root project security settings. For more information about security settings, see Adding Security.

After the copy is complete, the source project remains open and unchanged in the current solution. To access the newly copied Web application, you need to create and open a project that references the copy on the destination server.