Multiple Copies of Sharepoint Web application

To create multiple copies of a web application on a webfarm the database backup-restore will not work as the GUID of site will be same. The following process is useful in that scenario:

• Back up using stsadm stsadm -o backup -url <original site url> -filename <backup file path>\db.bak
• Create new web application (and content database) using Central Admin
• Restore (and overwrite) using stsadm stsadm -o restore -url <new site url> -filename <backup file path>\db.bak -overwrite