Archive & Retention Policies
The Archive Settings screen controls what happens to documents as they age: where archived files are stored, how long they're kept, and when they become eligible for permanent deletion (purge). It also lets you build automated retention policies and scheduled archive triggers so old or inactive content is archived without anyone doing it by hand.
How to open this page
From the left navigation, open Management → Archive & Retention (the page title inside reads Archive Settings).
- Route:
management/archive-settings - Access required: the View Configuration permission (
CONFIGURATION.VIEW). Without it the page won't show in your menu.
What you see on this page
Header, save bar, and stats
The header shows Archive Settings with Discard and Save Changes buttons on the right. Both stay disabled until you change something; once you edit a setting they light up so you can keep or roll back your changes.
A stats strip summarises the current state:
| Stat | What it means |
|---|---|
| Archived Documents | How many documents are currently archived. |
| Pending Auto-Archive | Documents queued to be archived by a rule. |
| Scheduled for Purge | Documents whose retention has expired and are due for deletion. |
| Active Rules | The number of retention policies plus auto-archive rules in effect. |
The rest of the page is split into two tabs: Global Settings and Rules & Triggers.
The Global Settings tab
This tab is where you configure system-wide archive behaviour. It's organised into sections.
Storage Location
Choose the Deployment Mode — On-Premises or Cloud / Cold Storage:
- On-Premises — set the Archive Root Path (a UNC or local path such as
\\NAS-Server\DocLock_Archive) and click Test Connection to verify it. A live disk usage bar and a Warning Threshold (50–99%) let you get alerted before the volume fills up. - Cloud / Cold Storage — pick a Cold Storage Tier (e.g. Azure Archive, AWS Glacier), and enter the Container / Bucket Name and a Credential Reference (a vault URI or environment variable, not a raw key).
General Archive Behavior
Toggles that control archiving across all workspaces:
- Show archived documents in default view.
- Require reason when archiving.
- Require approval before archiving.
- Auto-archive documents when workflow completes.
Retention & Purge
Defines how long archived documents live before they can be permanently deleted:
- Default retention period (in days) for documents without a more specific policy.
- Automatically purge documents after retention expires.
- Notify before purge (lead time in days).
- Exclude documents under legal hold from auto-purge — documents on a legal hold are never auto-purged regardless of their retention.
Archive Processing
How files are packaged and secured: Compression Level (None / Low / High), Checksum Algorithm (SHA-256 recommended, or MD5), Encrypt archived documents (with a Certificate Thumbprint from the Windows Certificate Store), and an optional off-peak processing window.
Notifications & Access Control
Choose who is notified on archive, restore, and purge, and control whether workspace members can restore or download archived documents and whether guests can see them.
Remember to Save. Changes on this tab aren't applied until you click Save Changes. Use Discard to revert everything back to the last saved state.
The Rules & Triggers tab
This tab automates archiving. It has two parts: Automated Retention Policies and Archive Triggers. A badge on the tab shows how many rules are defined.
Automated Retention Policies
Build plain-language rules with Add Time-Based Rule or Add Inactivity Rule:
- Time-based reads like "Archive all documents in [category] after [N] years from [trigger attribute]."
- Inactivity reads like "Archive [workspace] if inactive for [N] months."
A red Global Legal Hold — Pause all auto-archiving switch sits at the top. Turning it on immediately suspends every automated retention policy system-wide and shows a banner — use it during litigation or a compliance audit.
Archive Triggers
Archive Triggers are saved, schedulable jobs that archive whatever matches their criteria. Each trigger card shows its status and offers Run Now, edit, and enable/disable controls.
Create one with the three-step wizard:
- Name & Info — give the trigger a name (required), an optional description, and toggle whether it's enabled. Disabled triggers won't run on schedule but can still be run manually.
- Criteria — narrow which documents are archived: keyword/full-text, workspace, category, status, file type, owners, and a folder/path browser. Leave a field blank to match everything.
- Schedule — choose Manual, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or a Cron expression. A Manual trigger only runs when you click Run Now.
Tips
- Use the legal-hold exception. Keep Exclude documents under legal hold from auto-purge on so a retention rule can never delete content you're legally obliged to keep.
- Test the path first. On-premises, run Test Connection before saving — a bad path means nothing can be archived.
- Start triggers as Manual. Create a trigger, set its criteria, then Run Now to preview what it would archive before you put it on a schedule.
- Watch the storage threshold. Set a realistic warning percentage so you're alerted before the archive volume runs out of space.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause / fix |
|---|---|
| Archive & Retention isn't in my menu. | You lack the CONFIGURATION.VIEW permission. Ask an administrator. |
| Save / Discard are greyed out. | You haven't changed anything yet — they only enable after an edit. |
| My settings didn't take effect. | You navigated away without saving. Make the change again and click Save Changes. |
| Test Connection fails. | The Archive Root Path is wrong or the service account lacks permission to it. Correct the path/permissions. |
| A trigger isn't running on schedule. | The trigger is disabled, or its schedule is set to Manual. Enable it and choose a non-manual schedule. |
| Nothing is being auto-archived. | The Global Legal Hold switch may be on, which pauses all automated archiving. Turn it off when the hold period ends. |