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Hello Colleen,

The best way to test a backup archive is to restore it on a local server and make sure that everything works. So, the first thing you need do is to set up a local server environment. Our Quick Start Guide has a useful section about setting up your own local server. It's very easy and it's done "the Mac way". My personal preference of a pre-packaged local server environment is Zend Server CE, but it's a little "stiff". You can always use XAMPP or MAMP, the ever-popular local server choices.

From that point, you need to place the backup archive (note: it may consist of several files, e.g. .jpa, .j01, .j02 etc) on your local server's web root. The exact location depends on the server environment, but they all come with detailed instructions. Then, download our Kickstart ZIP file, extract it and place the extracted files to your local server's root.

Before you begin the restoration, you need to create a database and note down the connection information. Then, access Kickstart as http://localhost/kickstart.php (Zend Server, XAMPP) or http://localhost:8888/kickstart.php (MAMP, MAMP Pro). Just let it extract the archive and follow all the on-screen instructions. When you reach the Restore DB page, please provide the database connection information for the database you created in the previous step.

If your restored site has any issues, start by following the post-restoration troubleshooting instructions in our Quick Start Guide. If this doesn't help, please let me know of the exact issue and I can help you work around it.

That said, the restoration of a backup on the same server is even simpler than what I described. Just take a look at our fourth video tutorial for step-by-step instructions. It's no mistake, start to finish it's 5 minutes and I talk a lot on that video ;)

Please let me know if you have any questions. I'll be most happy to help you out!