The content migration APIs provide a simple but flexible solution for migrating content between Windows SharePoint Services Web sites. You can export the content related to a Windows SharePoint Services Web site, along with any dependencies (for example, security, roles, versioning, workflow, and other metadata), into single or multiple XML-formatted files called content migration packages. On import to the destination Web site, the packaged data is extracted and interpreted. You can also save the packages to a file server before migrating to a different server.

content migration is designed on an export/import model. That is, you first export Web site data, dependencies, and site structure into data files that are rolled up into a content migration package (or multiple packages). Then, the content migration package is imported at the destination, its contents unpacked, and the data, dependencies, and structure are reconstituted on the migration target.