How can I update a publishing page's page layout via PowerShell?

Question

I have a few publishing pages that need a page layout change. The layout includes a Content Editor Web Part pointed to an html file in the site assets folder. The layout changes but the Web Part does not show up. If I edit the page and select the page layout from the ribbon, the Web Part does show up. I am using the following code:

function changePageLayout([string]$url, [string]$folder, [string]$comment)
{
$spWeb = Get-SPWeb $url;
write-host "web retrieved " $spWeb
$getFolder = $spWeb.GetFolder($folder); 
write-host "in folder " $folder

# Folder Recursion
$getFolder.SubFolders | Where {$_.Name -ne "Forms" } | ForEach { changePageLayout $url $_.ServerRelativeUrl $comment; }

# CheckIn Files
$getFolder.Files | ForEach {
  if ($_.CheckOutStatus -ne "None") {
    echo $_.CheckIn("Forced Check in"); 
  }
  $_.CheckOut("Online",$null)
  write-host $_ "checked out"
  $_.Properties["PublishingPageLayout"] = "/pwi/MyBCP/_catalogs/masterpage/PlanPageWithPrint.aspx, BCP Plan Page With Print"
  write-host "changed layout"
  $_.Update()
  write-host "updated"
  $_.CheckIn($comment, [Microsoft.SharePoint.SPCheckinType]::MajorCheckIn)
  write-host "checked in"
  }


}

# call
changePageLayout "http://sp2010/pwi/MyBCP" "Pages/Business Unit Plans" "Added Print Button"

Answer 1

Maybe you can try this script? The script takes three parameters, the old or current page layout name, the new page layout name and an optional –all parameter which will traverse all the sites of a site collection.

# Description:
# Update the layout page for all matching pages of the current page layout
# Checkout, Change layout, Check-in pages in a site collection
#
# Syntax:
# ./UpdateLayoutPages [-PageLayoutCurrent] [-PageLayoutNew] [-all]
#
# Parameters:
# -PageLayoutCurrent     - The page layout that is currently in use and will be updated
# -PageLayoutNew        - The new page layout that pages will be updated to
# -all                     - Update subsites in the site collection
#
# Modifications:
# v1.0 - April 5th, 2011
# Initial version
#
# Settings
set-variable -option constant -name url  -value http://localhost   # Site collection
set-variable -option constant -name comment -value "Batch PageLayout Update"   # Publishing comment

# Function: Update-SPPagesPageLayout
# Description: Update a single page in a Publishing Web
# Parameters: publishingPage, pageLayout, comment
function Update-SPPagesPageLayout ([Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing.PublishingPage]$publishingPage,
    [Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing.PageLayout] $pageLayoutNew, [string]$comment)
{
    Write-Host "Updating the page:" $publishingPage.Name "to Page Layout:" $pageLayoutNew.Title
    $publishingPage.CheckOut();
    $publishingPage.Layout = $pageLayoutNew;
    $publishingPage.ListItem.Update();
    $publishingPage.CheckIn($comment);
    if ($publishingPage.ListItem.ParentList.EnableModeration)
    {
        $page.ListItem.File.Approve("Publishing Page Layout correction");
    }
}

# Function: Update-AllSPPagesPageLayouts
# Description: Loop through all the pages in a Publishing Web and update their page layout
# Parameters: web, pageLayoutCurrent, pageLayoutNew, comment
# comment Comment to accompany the checkin
Function Update-AllSPPagesPageLayouts ([Microsoft.SharePoint.SPWeb]$web, [Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing.PageLayout]$pageLayoutCurrent,
    [Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing.PageLayout]$pageLayoutNew, [string]$comment)
{
    #Check if this is a publishing web
    if ([Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing.PublishingWeb]::IsPublishingWeb($web) -eq $true)
    {
      $pubweb = [Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing.PublishingWeb]::GetPublishingWeb($web);
      $pubcollection=$pubweb.GetPublishingPages()
      #Go through all pages checking for pages with the "current" page layout
      for($i=0; $i -lt $pubcollection.count; $i++)
      {
        if($pubcollection[$i].Layout.Title -eq $pageLayoutCurrent.Title)
        {
            Update-SPPagesPageLayout $pubcollection[$i] $pageLayoutNew $comment
        }
      }
    }
    $web.Close();
}

# Check Parameters
if(($args[0] -ne $null) -and ($args[1] -ne $null))
{
    Write-Host "** Update Layout Pages from-" $args[0] "-to-" $args[1] "-on URL" $url
    $pageLayoutNameCurrent = $args[0];
    $pageLayoutNameNew = $args[1];

    $site = new-object Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing.PublishingSite($url)

    Write-Host "Checking if both page layouts exist in the site..."
    # Check if the current pagelayout exists in this site collection
    $pageLayouts = $site.GetPageLayouts($true);

    $pageLayouts | ForEach-Object {
        if ($_.Title -eq $pageLayoutNameCurrent)
        {
            Write-Host "Found CURRENT page layout: " $pageLayoutNameCurrent
            $pageLayoutCurrent = $_;
        }
    }

    # Check if the new pagelayout exists in this site collection
    $pageLayouts | ForEach-Object {
        if ($_.Title -eq $pageLayoutNameNew)
        {
            Write-Host "Found NEW page layout: " $pageLayoutNameNew
            $pageLayoutNew = $_;
        }
    }      

    # Do not continue if the either pageLayout does not exist
    if(($pageLayoutCurrent -ne $null) -and ($pageLayoutNew -ne $null))
    {
        # Update all subsites
        if($args[2] -eq "-all")
        {
         $site.Site.allwebs | foreach {
            Write-Host "Checking Web: " $_.Title
            Update-AllSPPagesPageLayouts $_ $pageLayoutCurrent $pageLayoutNew $comment
            }
        }
        else
        {
         $site.rootweb | foreach {
            Write-Host "Checking Web: " $_.Title
            Update-AllSPPagesPageLayouts $_ $pageLayoutCurrent $pageLayoutNew $comment
            }
        }
    }
    Write-Host "**Done"
}
else
{
    Write-Host "Missing arguments.  Please check your parameters"
}
#End

Reference: Powershell script for updating a publishing page Page Layout in a site collection.