Deploy Site Template in SharePoint Online Using PowerShell

In today’s post, we will see how we can provision a site from a template site.

First, we should emphasize that if the sites have complex layouts and themes, there is a significant chance issues may arise during provisioning. It should also be clearly understood that the more complex a site is, the larger the XML or JSON used for provisioning will be—and this can also lead to errors during execution.

The way to proceed is to create a site template.

Then we write the following PowerShell and run it:

# --- SETTINGS ---
$sourceSiteUrl     = "https://mytenant.sharepoint.com/sites/ARC" # The site with the Tiles
$adminUrl          = "https://mytenant-admin.sharepoint.com"
$templateTitle     = "Πρότυπο Portal με Tiles"
$templateDescription = "Αυτό το πρότυπο περιλαμβάνει αυτόματα τον Modern Script Editor και το Tiles layout."
$clinetId          = "0000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"

# 1. Connect to SharePoint Online
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $siteUrl -Interactive -ClientId $clinetId

Write-Host "Εξαγωγή ρυθμίσεων από το Source Site..." -ForegroundColor Cyan

# Create the Site Script (JSON format) directly from the existing Web
$siteScriptJson = Get-PnPSiteScriptFromWeb -Url $sourceSiteUrl -IncludeBranding -IncludeLinks -IncludeRegionalSettings -IncludeSiteExternalSharingSettings

# 3. Connect to SharePoint Admin to register the script/design
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $adminUrl -Interactive

Write-Host "Δημιουργία Org Template στο Tenant..." -ForegroundColor Yellow

# Add the script to the tenant
$uploadedScript = Add-PnPSiteScript -Title "$templateTitle Script" `
                                    -Content $siteScriptJson `
                                    -Description $templateDescription

# Create the Site Design (Org Template)
# WebTemplate "68" = Communication Site
$siteDesign = Add-PnPSiteDesign -Title $templateTitle `
                                -SiteScriptIds $uploadedScript.Id `
                                -WebTemplate "68" `
                                -Description $templateDescription

Write-Host "----------------------------------------------------------" -ForegroundColor White
Write-Host "ΕΠΙΤΥΧΙΑ!" -ForegroundColor Green
Write-Host "Το template '$templateTitle' είναι πλέον διαθέσιμο."
Write-Host "ID Σχεδιασμού: $($siteDesign.Id)"
Write-Host "----------------------------------------------------------"