Solved Restoring Backup and License

[NJohnson]

I am looking to test our backups for documentation purposes as well as cover us for our cyber insurance since they lower our rates if we routinely test our backups on mission critical systems. My question really has nothing to do with the backup process in general but more like what happens to our license. If I restore our back up to a secondary system just for testing purposes, does 3CX null out the existing installation license? In other words, would I be unable to simply kill the restored installation and turn back on the original system once I validated the backup? Obviously, this is something that will be done after hours, but I just don't want to get in a situation where testing a backup messes up our license and we're without phones for an extended period of time. I've tried to find this information in 3CX documentation and in the user forums, but I was unable to do so. Does anyone have any insight on this?

 

[SteveITS]

If you use a 3CX FQDN they will both update its public IP. Though they have short TTLs now.

Do you have an enterprise license by chance? That can set up failover with automated restores…

 

[BrunoI_3CX]

Hello @NJohnson

You can certainly restore your backup to a secondary system for testing purposes, since it is possible to activate a second system using the same License Key and FQDN. However, only one system can be the active instance at a time.

If the secondary system is brought online, the license registration will move to that instance. Once you have completed your testing, you can shut down the secondary system and restart the all system services on the production system (Admin > Dashboard > Troubleshooting > Services) so that it registers again with the 3CX Activation Servers and becomes the active instance again.

Please note that after the production system registers again, the DNS records may require some time to propagate before clients resolve the production system again.

Additionally, if you are using registration-based SIP trunks, once the restored system becomes active, the SIP trunk registrations will also move to that system. For this reason, we recommend performing this type of testing during a maintenance window to avoid any disruption to production services.

 

[NJohnson]

Steve, we're on a Pro license and we have a FQDN with split DNS. Brunol, thank you for you explanation. It is exactly what I was looking for. Oh, and this will definitely be after hours.