Editing a retention rule

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You can edit a retention rule to modify properties such as the frequency of data collection and the retention period. New retention sets that are created by the modified 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.

About this task

You can edit the following properties of a retention rule:
  • Whether the rule is active or inactive. When a retention rule is inactive, retention sets are not created automatically at scheduled intervals.
  • The retention rule frequency, which determines how often a retention set is created by the retention rule. Because this setting is designed to help you meet requirements for collecting data on a recurring basis, ensure that the new frequency still meets those requirements.
  • The start time for creating retention sets from this retention rule.
  • The retention period, which determines the expiration date for retention sets that are created by this rule.
  • Whether the retention sets that are created from this rule are kept in primary storage or saved to a retention storage pool. A retention storage pool can represent a supported cloud object storage environment or a collection of tape devices of the same type. If you do not specify a retention storage pool, then retention sets are kept as in-place retention sets in primary storage. If you specify a retention storage pool that represents tape devices, you can also specify whether volume stacking is used. Volume stacking allows retention sets that are created by this retention rule to share tape volumes with other retention sets. Use volume stacking to make more efficient use of tape capacity. Do not use volume stacking if each retention set that is created from this retention rule must be separated from other data on its own tape volumes.
  • The clients whose active backup data is to be retained. The clients can be backup-archive clients or IBM® Storage Protect for Virtual Environments virtual machines. You can specify one or more clients, client node groups, virtual machines, and file spaces.

The changes that you make to a retention rule do not affect retention sets that were previously created by the rule. For example, changing the retention period affects only the retention sets that are subsequently created by the retention rule. The new retention period does not affect the expiration dates of retention sets that were previously created by the rule.

Procedure

To edit a retention rule, complete the following steps:

  1. On the Operations Center menu bar, click Services > Retention Rules.
    The Retention Rules page is displayed.
  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.

Results

The retention rule is modified, and its new properties are displayed on the Properties tab. New retention sets that are created from this retention rule use the modified values.