Recover "contacts" from previous backup

[Alphabetic]

Version 20.0 Update 9 (Build 995 Release - AI 1.4.48)

Hello, is it possible to get contacts back from a ZIP without fully restoring?

I guess I could restore, export, restore..

When I unzip the zip now, i cannot read XML - is this no longer possible?

Side note -

Is it possible to see who deleted all the contacts?

There's nothing in audit log for contacts.

 

[KyriacosS_3CX]

Hello,

Was the backup encrypted?

 

[Alphabetic]

Hello,

Was the backup encrypted?

Yes, the backup is encrypted.

i've attempted to use 7zip with the password but get the same thing when I try and open.

 

[Alphabetic]

@KyriacosS_3CX - i thought the backup password was wrong so I did a test backup and get the same thing. Is it no longer possible to do or is there a correct way to do this?

 

[KyriacosS_3CX]

Hi,

There is no way to decrypt the backup outside of an actual PBX, the quickest way to do it would be to restore it to a sacrificial PBX, export the contacts or take an unencrypted backup and then wipe this intermediary PBX. This process will very likely grab the FQDN (if using a 3CX one) and bind it to the new temporary machines IP (unless you can do it behind the same NAT as the original one), so once you have the date you need and power it down, you will need to restart the system service on the real PBX to get the IP bound back to that one - direct IP access will probably need to be confirmed from before, so you know you can do this step when the FQDN is not assigned to it.

 

[Alphabetic]

ahhhh. i dont know why they disappeared :')

Do you know if deleting contacts are logged in managementconsole.log? And if so, what i'd search for?

 

[KyriacosS_3CX]

Contacts can be deleted by any user with sufficient rights, not really needing to be an admin.

In verbose you might see something like this:
2026-08-04 08:57:41.695|0019|Trace| [MyPhoneServer.Common.ContactCollection] Delete PhoneBook.32 from lookup collection
2026-08-04 08:57:41.697|0019|Debug| [MyPhoneServer.Common.ContactCollection] Remove PhoneBookEntry DN.29.PB32

 

[Alphabetic]

So after restoring the PBX to a week ago, still no contacts... restored it back..

only to discover when they said their "contacts" where missing, they meant the new user hadnt been added to view presence over the bridge..

It's not happening for me this week i'll try again next week.

 

[KyriacosS_3CX]

It's the heat-wave, we all need an ice cream...

 

[SteveITS]

when they said their "contacts" where missing

FWIW I have learned when anyone says their contacts are missing in Outlook, what they really mean is autocomplete isn't populating. "Trust but verify."

 

[Alphabetic]

FWIW I have learned when anyone says their contacts are missing in Outlook, what they really mean is autocomplete isn't populating. "Trust but verify."

This came from my colleague after taking the call so it was like chinese whispers really - trust no one.