Data retention in InfluxDB Cloud
The InfluxDB Cloud retention enforcement service checks for and removes data with timestamps beyond the defined retention period of the bucket the data is stored in. This service is designed to automatically delete “expired” data and optimize disk usage without any user intervention.
Bucket retention period
A bucket retention period is the duration of time that a bucket retains data. Retention periods can be as short as an hour or infinite. Points in a bucket with timestamps beyond the defined retention period (relative to now) are flagged for deletion (also known as “tombstoned”).
View bucket retention periods
Use the influx bucket list command
to view the retention period buckets in your organization.
When does data actually get deleted?
The InfluxDB Cloud retention enforcement service runs hourly and tombstones all points with timestamps beyond the bucket retention period. Tombstoned points persist on disk, but are filtered from all query results until the next compaction cycle, when they are removed from disk. Compaction cycle intervals vary.
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Support and feedback
Thank you for being part of our community! We welcome and encourage your feedback and bug reports for InfluxDB and this documentation. To find support, use the following resources:
Customers with an annual or support contract can contact InfluxData Support.