Create a copy of a site collection (modern communication site)

Question

I have a modern communication site collection which I used as the development site collection >> and this site contains 3 lists >> the lists refer to each other using lookup fields.

Now I want to create a copy of the communication site collection to act as the production site. So is there an automated way to do this job?

I only need to copy the site and its lists without the data.

Answer 1

Please following steps:

1.First, please enable Custom Script in SharePoint Online

Connect-SPOService -Url https://tenant-admin.sharepoint.com
Set-SPOSite -Identity https://tenant.sharepoint.com/sites/sitename -DenyAddAndCustomizePages 0

2.Create a site template using PnP Site Provisioning

You can use Get-PnPProvisioningTemplate to create a site template using PnP Site Provisioning.

Get-PnPProvisioningTemplate -Out C:\template\template.pnp -PersistBrandingFiles 
New-PnPTenantSite -Url 'https://tenantURL/sites/sitename' -Title 'New Site Collection' -Owner 'melqassas@tenanturl'
Connect-PnPOnline 'https://tenantURL/sites/sitename'
Apply-PnPProvisioningTemplate -Path C:\template\template.pnp

Reference:

• Create site template with PowerShell

Answer 2

You can use PnP provisioning engine for such activities in SharePoint online.

You can generate & use site template for your requirements.

The easiest way to create a custom provisioning template is to create a fresh new site collection in SharePoint Online, configure your artifacts (site columns, content types, lists, pages, etc.), and save the result as a provisioning template.

Source: Introducing the PnP provisioning engine