How to Create Subsites Using Powershell in Sharepoint 2013

If you want to create multiple subsites in a site collection and the number of subsites is more than two then why create subsites from the SharePoint UI? It takes too much time, instead we can use Powershell (cmdlets) and create multiple subsites in a site collection.

First, we create the XML structure for creating subsites in a site collection.
Open Notepad++ and create one XML file for the site structure.

input.xml
1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
2. <input>
3. <WebApplication>
4. <URL>http://spdev-2013:2020</URL>
5. </WebApplication>
6. <SiteCollection>
7. <Name>company</Name>
8. <Title>Company Website</Title>
9. <TemplateCode>BLANKINTERNET#0</TemplateCode>
10. <PrimaryAdmin>WINGTIP\SPFarmAcc</PrimaryAdmin>
11. <SubSites>
12. <Site>
13. <Name>Media & Entertainment</Name>
14. <Url>media-entertainment</Url>
15. </Site>
16. <Site>
17. <Name>Travel & Hospitality</Name>
18. <Url>travel-hospitality</Url>
19. </Site>
20. <Site>
21. <Name>Online Retail</Name>
22. <Url>online-retail</Url>
23. </Site>
24. <Site>
25. <Name>Healthcare & Life Sciences</Name>
26. <Url>healthcare-life-sciences</Url>
27. </Site>
28. <Site>
29. <Name>Product Engineering Services</Name>
30. <Url>product-engineering-services</Url>
31. </Site>
32. <Site>
33. <Name>Enterprise Business Solutions</Name>
34. <Url>enterprise-business-solution</Url>
35. </Site>
36. <Site>
37. <Name>Elearning</Name>
38. <Url>elearning</Url>
39. </Site>
40. <Site>
41. <Name>Support Services</Name>
42. <Url>support-services</Url>
43. </Site>
44. <Site>
45. <Name>UX Design</Name>
46. <Url>ux-design</Url>
47. </Site>
48. <Site>
49. <Name>Documentation</Name>
50. <Url>documentation</Url>
51. </Site>
52. <Site>
53. <Name>Cloud Computing</Name>
54. <Url>cloud-computing</Url>
55. </Site>
56. <Site>
57. <Name>Business Intelligence</Name>
58. <Url>business-intelligence</Url>
59. </Site>
60. <Site>
61. <Name>Enterprise Mobility</Name>
62. <Url>enterprise-mobility</Url>
63. </Site>
64. <Site>
65. <Name>CRM</Name>
66. <Url>crm</Url>
67. </Site>
68. <Site>
69. <Name>E-commerce</Name>
70. <Url>e-commerce</Url>
71. </Site>
72. <Site>
73. <Name>Supply Chain Management</Name>
74. <Url>scm</Url>
75. </Site>
76. <Site>
77. <Name>ECM</Name>
78. <Url>ecm</Url>
79. </Site>
80. <Site>
81. <Name>Careers</Name>
82. <Url>careers</Url>
83. </Site>
84. <Site>
85. <Name>News</Name>
86. <Url>news</Url>
87. </Site>
88. <Site>
89. <Name>Global</Name>
90. <Url>global</Url>
91. </Site>
92. </SubSites>
93. </SiteCollection>
94. <ContentDB>
95. <Name>WSS_Content_Dummy</Name>
96. <ServerName>SPDev-2013</ServerName>
97. </ContentDB>
99. </input>
After the XML sturucture, now we need to create a Powershell file.
For the Powershell file, create another file in Notepad++ and write the following Powershell script in that, save the file as whatever name you want with the extension .ps1.

CreateSubsite.ps1
1. Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.Powershell
4. # pauses like regular cmd prompt
5. function Pause ($Message="Press any key to continue...")
6. {
7. Write-Host -NoNewLine $Message
8. $null = $Host.UI.RawUI.ReadKey("NoEcho,IncludeKeyDown")
9. Write-Host ""
10. }
12. #log the operation details in text file
13. $logfile = ".\Create_Site_Collection_Log_$(get-date -format `"yyyyMMdd_hhmmsstt`").txt"
14. function log($string, $color)
15. {
16. if ($Color -eq $null) {$color = "white"}
17. write-host "[$(Get-Date -Format T)] $string" -foregroundcolor $color
18. "[$(Get-Date -Format T)] $string" | out-file -Filepath $logfile -append
19. }
22. #get the XML file
23. [System.Xml.XmlDocument] $XmlDoc = new-object System.Xml.XmlDocument
24. $file = resolve-path(".\input.xml")
25. if (!$file)
26. {
27. log "Could not find the configuration file specified." red
28. Break
29. }
31. $XmlDoc = [xml](Get-Content $file)
33. #Get the site template code
34. $SiteTemplate = $XmlDoc.input.SiteCollection.TemplateCode
36. $siteCollectionUrl = $XmlDoc.input.SiteCollection.Url
38. # clear some space
39. Write-Host ""
40. Write-Host ""
41. Write-Host ""
44. # add solution
45. Write-Host "Checking if site:: $newSiteUrl already exist.."
46. $targetUrl = Get-SPSite -Limit All | Where-Object {$_.Url -eq $siteCollectionUrl}
47. if ($targetUrl -ne $null) {
49. log "The site : $newSiteUrl is present."
51. if($error.Count -eq 0)
52. {
53. log "Now Creating Subsites.."
55. $subSites = $XmlDoc.input.SiteCollection.SubSites
56. foreach($subsiteNode in $subSites.Site)
57. {
58. $SubSiteName = $subsiteNode.Name
60. $SubSiteUrl = $newSiteUrl + "/" + $subsiteNode.Url
62. log "Creating new subsite : $SubSiteUrl"
64. $NewSubSite = New-SPWeb -Url $SubSiteUrl -Template $SiteTemplate -Name $SubSiteName
66. if($error.Count -eq 0)
67. {
68. log "SubSite Created Successfully..!!"
69. log "Breaking Inheritance On A Subsite"
70. $NewSubSite.BreakRoleInheritance($true,$true)
71. $NewSubSite.Update()
72. }
73. else
74. {
75. log "SubSite Creation failed" red
76. log $error
77. }
78. }
79. }
80. else
81. {
82. log "Site Collection Creation failed" red
83. log $error
84. }
85. }
86. pause
Read the highlighted part in the code block of the Powershell file, $file = resolve-path(".\input.xml") , this line shows your Powershell script mapped with your XML structure.
After doing these two files, put both files in one folder with whatever name you want .
Now run the Powershell script in the SharePoint 2013 Management Shell.
Write the exact path of your Powershell file in the Management shell. Suppose you put your Powershell file and XML file in the C drive folder.
Then you write:
C:\powershell> .\CreateSubsite.ps1