Install the IT Division Site Template – step by step

From download to a working site: tools, the Entra app, configuration, the prerequisite check, deployment with your licence key, and what to do afterwards.

This guide takes you from the download to a working IT Division site. Allow about 45 minutes the first time – most of it is registering the Entra app – and about 10 minutes for every site after that. The full reference is in the download: docs/01-Implementation-Guide.md.

Before you start

You need:

• Your licence key (starts with ITDIV1.) – from the e-mail, the thank-you page or My licenses
• A Windows, Mac or Linux computer with PowerShell 7.2 or later
• Site Collection Administrator on the target site, or SharePoint Administrator to let the script create the site
• A Global Administrator or Application Administrator for one step: consenting to the Entra app

Decide these four things first – the site address in particular can't be changed later without breaking links:

Step 1 – Install the tools

Install PowerShell 7 from aka.ms/powershell (it sits alongside Windows PowerShell 5.1, which will not work). Then install PnP.PowerShell:

pwsh -Command "Install-Module PnP.PowerShell -Scope CurrentUser -Force -AllowClobber"

Check the versions – PowerShell 7.2+ and PnP.PowerShell 3.0+:

pwsh -Command "$PSVersionTable.PSVersion; (Get-Module -ListAvailable PnP.PowerShell).Version"

Step 2 – Unzip and unblock the download

1. Save IT-Division-Site-Template.zip and extract it, for example to C:\IT-Division-Template.
2. Windows marks downloaded files as coming from the internet, and PowerShell then refuses to run the scripts. Unblock them once:

pwsh -Command "Get-ChildItem 'C:\IT-Division-Template' -Recurse | Unblock-File"

1. Open a PowerShell 7 window in that folder (cd C:\IT-Division-Template\IT-Division-Site-Template-1.0.0). Every command below runs from there.

Step 3 – Register the Entra app (once per tenant)

PnP.PowerShell needs its own app registration in your tenant. The easiest way – replace contoso with your tenant:

pwsh -Command "Register-PnPEntraIDApp -ApplicationName 'PnP Provisioning' -Tenant contoso.onmicrosoft.com -Interactive"

Sign in, accept the consent prompt, and write down the Client ID it prints – every script needs it. If you prefer to create the app by hand, section 2 of the Implementation Guide lists the exact permissions.

Step 4 – Configure the template

Open config/site-config.json and set at least:

Worth reviewing too: site.timeZoneId, site.language, your brand colour under branding (see docs/07-Choosing-Colours.md) and your service-desk number in branding.footerText. Keep deployment.createSampleData at false for a production site.

Step 5 – Run the prerequisite check

It changes nothing. Fix anything marked [FAIL]:

pwsh -File "scripts/Test-ITDivisionPrerequisites.ps1" -TestConnection -ClientId "<your-client-id>"

A warning that the target site doesn't exist yet is fine if you deploy with -CreateSite.

Step 6 – Dry run, then deploy with your licence key

Always dry-run first. It prints every change without making any:

pwsh -File "scripts/Deploy-ITDivisionSite.ps1" -ClientId "<your-client-id>" -CreateSite -WhatIf

Check the site address in the output, then deploy for real with your key:

pwsh -File "scripts/Deploy-ITDivisionSite.ps1" -ClientId "<your-client-id>" -CreateSite -LicenseKey "ITDIV1.…"

Deployment takes three to six minutes; the slowest part is creating columns and content types, which SharePoint throttles. A transcript is written to logs/. Leave out -CreateSite if an administrator already created the empty site for you.

Step 7 – Check it worked

Open the site and confirm:

• The IT lists and libraries open without errors, and IT Service Requests has views such as My Queue and Unassigned
• Priority shows as a coloured pill, not plain text
• Site Settings → Site columns has an IT Division group
• The five IT Division groups exist, and an ordinary user can raise a request but can't open vendor contracts

Check the licence on the site at any time:

pwsh -File "scripts/Get-ITDivisionLicenseStatus.ps1" -SiteUrl "https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/ITDivision" -ClientId "<your-client-id>"

Adding or replacing a key on an existing site

To add a key to a site that's already deployed – or install a renewal key – run:

pwsh -File "scripts/Install-ITDivisionLicense.ps1" -SiteUrl "<site-address>" -ClientId "<your-client-id>" -LicenseKey "ITDIV1.…"

If the key is awkward on a command line, save it in a text file and use -LicenseKeyPath .\licence.txt instead. A renewal installed early is kept alongside the current key and takes over the day the current one ends.

After deployment

1. Put people in the groups – Site Settings → Site permissions (IT Division Owners, Staff, Service Desk, Change Advisory Board, Readers).
2. Finish the home page – edit the Quick Links, chart, news and people web parts, then publish.
3. Build the flows – docs/04-Power-Automate-Flows.md describes five flows (request acknowledgement, approvals, escalation, review reminders, contract renewals). Allow half a day.
4. Tell people – hand out docs/02-User-Guide.md.

If something goes wrong

Still stuck? Open a support ticket and attach the transcript from the logs/ folder.

Updated 2026-10-18