Isolate the recovery environment
Restore tests can accidentally register the same trunk or send calls as the live PBX. Build an isolated target with compatible software and control its outbound connectivity before importing the archive. Keep the production system serving calls while you validate the backup elsewhere.
Define success as recovered configuration plus working required behavior. A completed import is only one stage. Record the archive, target versions, elapsed time and any manual recovery steps.
Restore and inspect the inventory
Follow the installed Backup and Restore module’s supported path. Confirm extensions, trunks, routes, IVRs, prompts, schedules, users and required custom files. Check certificate and secret handling explicitly. A restore across major releases may need a migration path rather than an identical image assumption.
Do not enable copied production trunks simply to make the dashboard green. Use a test trunk or an agreed carrier-side test arrangement when exercising external calling.
Run the recovery call matrix
Test internal calling first, followed by controlled inbound and outbound calls, DTMF, voicemail, queue or ring-group overflow and remote media. Check that recorded prompts exist and that time conditions evaluate in the intended timezone.
Restore a sample voicemail or recording and verify authorized playback. If a file was intentionally excluded, record the separate recovery mechanism. Check that alerting and backup schedules do not target obsolete hosts.
Capture gaps and rehearse cutover
List every missing dependency, credential and manual action. Update the recovery instructions and repeat the failed step. A production cutover additionally needs carrier registration ownership, DNS or routing changes and endpoint reconnection; document those responsibilities without performing them during an ordinary isolated restore test.
Watch the explanation
Separates File Store destinations from backup jobs, then covers included data, retention and archive checks. Repeatedly explains why a copy on the PBX’s own disk is insufficient.
Read applicability and editorial notes →Watch this video here
FreePBX 15 interface from 2021. Check current module and migration documentation before restoring to FreePBX 17. Review used the available transcript and primary references; audio and screen readability remain unverified.
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Sources & applicability
Primary references for the technical details above. Operational examples and planning checklists are VoIP.info editorial guidance.
Examples require adaptation to your topology. No live PBX or hardware testing is claimed.