Traditionally, SharePoint has utilized path-based site collections when it comes to creating site collections. For SharePoint 2013, however, Microsoft has introduced a new type of site collection configuration: Host-Named Site Collection (HNSC). This new type of configuration enables you to assign a unique hostname to a site collection so that it doesn’t share the same hostname as a path-based site collection (for example, http://header.bamboosolutions.com versus http://mySPO15). In addition, the HNSC has its own separate DNS which makes your SharePoint server simple to set up, organize, and operate. In this article, we’ll walk you through the steps needed to create a host-named site collection using a PowerShell script.

Before you begin, make sure that the user running the Windows PowerShell cmdlets has the following memberships on all databases that will be used:

• db_securityadmin
• db_owner

Additionally, the user running the script on the server must be a member of the Administrators group that can run the PowerShell script as an administrator.

Step 1: Create a new Host-Named Site Collection

To begin, go to Menu > Start and select All Programs > MS SharePoint 2013.

Run the SharePoint 2013 Management Shell as an Administrator.

Next, type on the following script:

New-SPSite <your new HNSC>-OwnerAlias <Domain-NameUserName> -HostHeaderWebApplication <your current site collection>

In this example, we’ll be using the following:  New-SPSite http://header.bamboosolutions.com -OwnerAlias bamboovnspinstaller -HostHeaderWebApplication http://trangf15sql

Step 2: Binding in IIS Manager

Go to Menu > Start and select Administrative Tools and select Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

Next, select your site from the list (in this example, we’ll be selecting the site SharePoint 80) and click on Edit Bindings.

Click Add Site Binding.

In the dialog box, you will need to do the following:

• Select the type
• Select the IP Address
• Enter your HNSC URL header.bamboosolutions.com in the Hostname text box.

Once you are finished, click OK.

Next, from the right panel, under Manage Web Site, click on the Restart link.  This will update the new HNSC for the site collection.

Step 3: Add the IP host in the client machine to Run

Open the window Run and type in the following: “C:WindowsSystem32driversetc” and open the file hosts in Notepad.

Type the IP host and click Save.

In this example, we’ll be using the following IP: 172.16.xx.xx header.bamboosolutions.com

Step 4: Run and configure your site

Now that your site has been created, you can open the new site collection in SharePoint and configure it as needed.

Questions? Contact us or check out our online documentation for more information!