Defining a retention rule for long-term data retention

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You can define a retention rule to collect active backup data for specified clients into a retention set for long-term storage. A retention rule specifies how often the data is collected and how long that data is retained.

About this task

When you define a retention rule, you can define a schedule to specify how often a retention set creation job is run to take a snapshot of active backup data for one or more clients. The snapshot, called a retention set, is the collection of backup data objects that were active when the retention set creation job ran.

The backup data objects in a retention set are tracked in the server inventory to ensure that the data is retained according to the retention set's own expiration date, which is independent of policy set specifications for data retention.

Restrictions: If you replicate nodes or virtual machines that are members of a retention rule or retention set to a target replication server, the following restrictions apply:
  • You must use the command line interface to define, view, or edit retention rules on the target replication server. It is not possible to use the Operations Center.
  • To create a retention set that uses the replicated data, you must run the DEFINE RETRULE command with STARTTIME and STARTDATE parameter values that precede the replication operation.

Procedure

  1. On the Operations Center menu bar, click Services > Retention Rules.
  2. To create a retention rule from scratch, on the Retention Rules page, click +Create Rule.
  3. On the Create Retention Rule page, complete the fields and click Create.
    Tip: Alternatively, you can define a retention rule by using the DEFINE RETRULE command. For more information, see DEFINE RETRULE (Define a retention rule).

Results

The retention rule is created, and its properties are displayed on the Properties tab of the retention rule's Details page. The retention rule triggers retention set creation jobs according to the frequency and start time that are specified in the rule. When a retention set creation job runs, the active backup data in file spaces that are owned by the specified clients is collected into the new retention set. This data is collected into the new retention set by updating the server inventory.

What to do next

Optionally, you can take one or more of the following actions on retention rules:
Table 1. Retention rule actions
Task Procedure
Edit a retention rule You can edit a retention rule to update attributes, such as the frequency of data collection or the retention period. New retention sets that are created by the retention rule use the new properties. Retention sets that were created by the retention rule before it was modified are not affected by the changes.
  1. On the Operations Center menu bar, click Services > Retention Rules.
  2. On the Retention Rules page, select the retention rule that you want to edit.
  3. Click Details and then click the Properties tab.
  4. On the Properties tab, click Modify. The retention rule is now editable.
  5. On the Properties tab, edit the fields and click Save.

    The retention rule is updated, and its new properties are displayed on the Properties tab.

Alternatively, you can edit a retention rule by using the UPDATE RETRULE command. For more information, see UPDATE RETRULE (Update a retention rule).
Delete a retention rule You can delete a retention rule if it is no longer needed, and if all retention sets that were created by the rule no longer exist.
Restriction: If any retention sets that were created by the retention rule still exist in the system, you cannot delete the retention rule. Before you can delete a retention rule, wait for its retention sets to expire or manually delete the retention sets.
  1. On the Operations Center menu bar, click Services > Retention Rules.
  2. On the Retention Rules page, select the retention rule that you want to delete.
  3. Click Details and then click the Properties tab.
  4. On the Properties tab, click Modify , then click Delete Rule.
Tip: If the Delete Rule button is disabled, you cannot delete the rule because retention sets that were created by the retention rule still exist. To view these retention sets, click the Retention Sets tab.

If you cannot delete the retention rule, you can edit the retention rule and deactivate it. When a retention rule is inactive, retention set creation jobs do not start automatically for the rule.

Alternatively, you can delete a retention rule by issuing the DELETE RETRULE command. For more information, see DELETE RETRULE (Delete a retention rule).

Rename a retention rule To rename a retention rule, issue the RENAME RETRULE command. When you rename a retention rule, only the name of the retention rule changes. The name change does not affect existing retention sets that were created by the rule.