Configuring extended log retention

With extended log retention, you can retain logs for 30, 60, and 90 days, compared to the 7 days of default retention time of Instana core logging feature. You can keep logs for the extended period by configuring the retention period settings.

Required privileges

Changing the log retention is a sensitive setting in Instana. Therefore, Instana protects it by a role-based access control (RBAC) mechanism. Only users that are assigned with the Instana owner group or a group with the permission to change retention periods can access the retention period settings page.

To assign permission to change the retention period to a user group, complete the following steps:

  1. From the navigation menu in the Instana UI, select Setting > Security & Access > Access Control > Groups.

  2. Click a group, and then click Edit.

  3. In the Edit access configuration window, click Global functions from the page menu.

  4. In the Log permissions, select the Log retention period checkbox.

    Log retention permission
    Figure 1. Log retention permission

The Log retention period permission is available only after the logging add-on is activated for the tenant unit.

Modifying log retention period

To change the settings for log retention period, assign the Log retention period permission to the user through a group setting. For more information, see Required privileges.

To change the retention time, complete the following steps:

  1. From the navigation menu in the Instana UI, select Logs.

  2. On the Management tab, select Retention period. The log retention page displays the Current retention period.

    In Settings > Security & Access > Groups > New group, if access to audit trail (Action and access log) is selected in the "Create new group" window, then the action Log link appears to view the log retention history.

    Manage retention
    Figure 1. Manage retention

  3. Click Change retention period.

  4. In the "Change log retention period" window, enter the required details in the following fields:

    • Log retention period: Select the preferred retention time (30 days, 60 days, or 90 days).
    • Change reason: Add a reason for the change.
    • Type CHANGE RETENTION: To confirm the change, type CHANGE RETENTION.

  5. Click Change retention period.

    Manage retention model
    Figure 2. Change log retention period

After the window is closed, the new retention setting is reflected on the Retention Period page.

Changing the retention time impacts the consumption of available logging budget from the corresponding retention buckets. For more information, see Consumption of logging budget.

Consumption of logging budget

In SaaS environments, the bucket from which the logging budget is consumed varies depending on the configured retention time. To avoid extra overage charges, make sure that your current entitlement is sufficient to cover any changes to the log retention period.

The following table shows the retention time configuration and log bucket usage.

Table 1. Retention time configuration and log bucket usage
Configured retention time Retention bucket consumed Comments
30 days 30 days retention Budget from the 60 or 90 days bucket is not consumed.
60 days 60 days retention Budget from the 30 or 90 days bucket is not consumed.
90 days 90 days retention Budget from the 30 or 60 days bucket is not consumed.

For more information about the log message volume, see Log volume reports.

Checking the expiration date of log messages

To check the expiration date of log messages, complete the following steps:

  1. From the navigation menu in the Instana UI, select Analytics > Logs.

  2. Click a log message.

  3. In the log tag list, the date beside the Retained Until indicates the duration for which a log message is available in Instana.

    Retention details
    Figure 4. Retention details