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TorInge's avatar
TorInge
Level 3
8 years ago

How to delete archives stored on Centera with 10 years of retention

We are moving archives away from Centera to a new storage device, as we are going to decommission the Centera device. While I was moving archives and deleting the old ones when finished, I noticed that the archives are stuck in deletion. I figured out that the Centera retention class for those archives was set to 10 years. Hence the messages popping up in dtrace:

262á760 13:26:46.054 [49á556] (StorageDelete) <26512> EV:M CVaultStoreEMCCentera::ClipGetExpiryDateCenteraCollection -- Clip-Id: 88PRQ8LUUIQ3JeCOEQR9F1D17IVG418H8CEQUQ0A9VTB8H166IT1G, Expiry date: 0.000000

262á764 13:26:46.054 [49á556] (StorageDelete) <26512> EV:M CVaultStoreEMCCentera::ClipGetExpiryDate -- Clip-Id: 88PRQ8LUUIQ3JeCOEQR9F1D17IVG418H8CEQUQ0A9VTB8H166IT1G, Expiry date: 45340.812847

262á786 13:26:46.054 [49á556] (StorageDelete) <26512> EV:M The deletion of the item is not currently permitted. The item is on a compliance device with a retention period that prevents it from being deleted.

Are there any way of removing the old archives from EV before the Expiry date? I am not concerned about the data on Centera once all moves are completed. I just want to remove any references to the old archives and items once we have moved everything away from Centera.

How do I calculate the Expiry date in dtrace?

When trying to delete about 18TB of data in retention, will that bog down the EV server as it tries to delete the items over and over again?

Thanks!

Centera
Retention
  • ChrisLangevin's avatar
    ChrisLangevin
    8 years ago

    EV will not be able to delete the item data from the Centera until the Retention Period has expired. It is possible to remove the references from EV's databases (effectively orphaning the Centera data) but you will need to open a support case to have this done, as it's not trivial.

     

    The expiry date shown in the dtrace is recorded as a DATE type. This means that the number you see in the trace represents the number of days since December 30, 1899, with time of day represented by the fractional part. In the case of the example you posted, adding 45340.812847 days to December 30, 1899 yields an expiry date for this item of February 18, 2024.

    To convert in PowerShell, use this formulation:

    ([datetime]"12-30-1899").AddDays(<DATE value>)

    Example using the value you posted:

    PS> ([datetime]"12-30-1899").AddDays(45340.812847)

Sunday, February 18, 2024 7:30:29 PM

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  • ChrisLangevin's avatar
    ChrisLangevin
    Level 6
    8 years ago

    EV will not be able to delete the item data from the Centera until the Retention Period has expired. It is possible to remove the references from EV's databases (effectively orphaning the Centera data) but you will need to open a support case to have this done, as it's not trivial.

     

    The expiry date shown in the dtrace is recorded as a DATE type. This means that the number you see in the trace represents the number of days since December 30, 1899, with time of day represented by the fractional part. In the case of the example you posted, adding 45340.812847 days to December 30, 1899 yields an expiry date for this item of February 18, 2024.

    To convert in PowerShell, use this formulation:

    ([datetime]"12-30-1899").AddDays(<DATE value>)

    Example using the value you posted:

    PS> ([datetime]"12-30-1899").AddDays(45340.812847)

Sunday, February 18, 2024 7:30:29 PM
    • TorInge's avatar
      TorInge
      Level 3
      8 years ago

      Thank you for the answer! I thought this was support case material, I just wanted to make sure there were no easy way outs.

      I have estimated the move will be completed in 6 months with the current speed (Centera is the bottleneck). Do you reccomend I wait until everything is finished, or should we do deletions with more frequent intervals?

      • ChrisLangevin's avatar
        ChrisLangevin
        Level 6
        8 years ago

        I would wait until everything is finished migrating and you have confirmed it's all working in the new spot. While you could delete this first batch of 1,000, then this next batch of 1,000, and keep track of what has been deleted so far the whole time, it is a lot easier if you just wait until the end and delete them all. Also keeps us from having to drag out a support case over 6 months, which isn't anyone's idea of a good time.

  • GertjanA's avatar
    GertjanA
    Moderator
    8 years ago

    Hello, probably due to Centera being in Compliance mode, these errors will be there until the 10 year retention is valid. You can change the Archivestatus for the mailboxes in 'delete' status, so they become available again. this will stop the deletion. You might need to talk to EMC to figure out if it is possible to change the Compliance mode to less restrictive (i.e. allow deletions despite the retention is not passed yet)

    To reset the status:

    1.Within SQL Management Studio run the following:

    USE EnterpriseVaultDirectory
     SELECT *  FROM  Archive
     WHERE ArchiveStatus = 4

     This will generate a list of all of the Archives set for Deletion.
     
    1.Check the results and make sure that the ArchiveName column contains the Archive/s in question. Take note of the RootIdentity for each Archive.
     
    1.Within SQL run the following SQL query to change the status back to Available:

    USE EnterpriseVaultDirectory
     UPDATE Archive
     SET ArchiveStatus = 1
     WHERE ArchiveStatus = 4 AND RootIdentity = 'RootIdentity taken from step2'
     
    1.Refresh the view in the VAC and make sure that the vault status for the archive/s have changed from Marked for Deletion to Available.

    • TorInge's avatar
      TorInge
      Level 3
      8 years ago

      Will they be re-associated with the user mailbox at the next run of provisioning? Because the reason why I delete them in the first case, is that the old archives are confusing the end users when visible in archive explorer.

      Are there any other ways than marking them for deletion to remove the old archive from the user account? May I just remove the rights, or are they still in sync with exchange?

      • ChrisLangevin's avatar
        ChrisLangevin
        Level 6
        8 years ago

        Only one archive can be associated with a mailbox, so if the users have new archives that are associated to their mailbox, then the old ones will not be re-associated.

         

        If you remove the users' rights to the old archives, then they should stop showing in Search/Archive Explorer. And if the old archives are no longer associated to the mailboxes, then their rights will not sync from Exchange anymore, so the rights should stay removed.

         

        You may still want to delete the old archives if they are truly duplicative, just to keep your admin console and your SQL tables cleaner.