Configuration of data retention policy

Data retention policies in Measure help you manage the lifecycle of data objects by archiving or deleting resources based on scope, retention rules, and execution schedules.

Data Retention is an administrative governance feature available only for Velocity 5.2.5 or later, which allows you manage the lifecycle of data objects over time automatically. By establishing automated retention policies, Product Administrators can systematically archive or permanently delete versions and their linked resources, such as builds, inventory, and deployments that are no longer required for active operations.

You can create a data retention policy by providing the details, such as Name, Description, Retention days, and Resource type. You can also select the following policy Mode, which defines the action applied to the resource:
  • Archive mode: This mode provides a temporary cleanup step. When resource types, such as versions, reach their archival time threshold, the system moves them out of your daily workspace. The data is removed from the active user interface so it stops cluttering your daily view. The data is still available in the backend and the administrator can still retrieve this data whenever required. The archived data continue to appear in reports such as Pipeline Snapshot, Deployment Audit, and Release Readiness reports.
  • Delete mode: In this mode, the system removes the resource data permanently from the system's hard drives and databases. Because Measure maintains data integrity, deleting an object (such as a software version) will also cascade to delete all of its tightly coupled background data (such as its specific builds and deployment history). The deleted resources do not appear in reports such as Pipeline Snapshot, Deployment Audit, and Release Readiness reports.

Both archive and delete operations are soft and hard lifecycle controls, respectively, from a UI perspective, but neither operation preserves full recoverability through bulk restore. Bulk restore is not supported. However, archived resources can be restored manually.

If a resource is shared across multiple teams or applications, the system does not delete or archive the resource until all associated teams and applications are included in the selected scope. This process ensures that shared resources are not removed prematurely.

You can define the policy scope using the Scope field. The available scopes are as follows:
  • Global: The policy is applied to all the resources across all users.
  • Team: The policy is applied to only selected teams. You can select multiple teams for a single policy.
  • Application: The policy is applied to only selected applications. You can select multiple applications for a single policy.

You can manage data retention policies from the Settings > Policies > Data retention policy page. Available actions include edit, delete, execute, and view logs. You can view the execution details by using Audit Logs to track policy runs and results.

You must take a database backup before creating the policies, because the reports, value stream, and insights metrics will be impacted. The linked resources of the Versions are as follows:
  • Builds
  • Deployments
  • Inventory