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Data retention and archiving

Archive repository objects you no longer work with, keep them restorable for a retention period, and let the platform destroy them — with a downloadable destruction log as proof — once that period ends.

Prerequisites​

  • The Data Retention Policies Early Access feature, enabled by an administrator under Admin → Server Settings → Early Access.
  • The Manage Retention Policies and Archive repository permission. An administrator grants it to a repository role under Admin → Security Roles → Repository Roles and assigns the role under Repository Role Assignments.
  • To archive an object, you must also be allowed to delete it.
  • Changing the retention periods additionally requires the Manage Repository Configuration repository permission.

Steps​

Archive an object​

Archiving is a governed action: an archived object's relationships are deactivated, which can affect diagrams, reports, and analyses that reference it. Before archiving, consider running a narrative report or an IQL query on the object to see what depends on it.

  1. In the Model area, open the object and select the three-dot icon next to its name, labeled More Options, then select Archive. The repository tree's context menu offers the same action as Archive Object.
  2. Optionally enter an archival comment.
  3. Click Archive.

The Archive confirmation dialog asking for an optional archival comment before archiving a diagram.

Archiving an object also archives all its child objects. The objects leave the repository tree, any running cycles on them are canceled, and their relationships are deactivated — but properties and relationships are kept so a restore can bring them back. Shortcuts that point into the archived objects are permanently deleted, not archived.

Archiving runs as a background job — the Object Archive job in the Status Log reports each object's result. To archive many objects a search can find, use bulk operations.

You can't archive an object that is checked out or in a running approval cycle, nor template folders, default narratives, built-in platform objects, or parts of an IGX file.

View and restore archived objects​

  1. Select Archive in the navigation rail — it sits below Recycle Bin and is visible only to users with the archive permission. The Archive is separate from the Recycle Bin.
  2. The list shows each object with Archived By, Archived On, and the Archival Comment.
  3. To restore, check the object and click Restore.

The Archive page listing an archived diagram with its archiver, archival date, and comment, and the Restore button.

Restoring brings back the object, its children, and the relationships that were deactivated when it was archived. Cycles that were canceled by archiving are not reinstated. If the original name is now taken, the restored object is renamed; if its parent folder has been deleted, the restore fails.

Set the retention policies​

  1. Open Repository → Policies and choose the Retention Policies tab.
  2. Set the Archive retention period in days — how long an object stays in the archive before it is irrevocably destroyed and added to the destruction log. The default is 2557 days (about seven years).
  3. Set the Destruction log retention period in days — how long destruction log entries are kept after an object is destroyed. The default is 180 days.

The Retention policy manager with the archive retention period, the destruction log retention period, and the Download destruction log button.

Destruction of due objects, and removal of expired log entries, run once a day — a shortened retention period takes effect at the next daily run.

Download the destruction log​

The destruction log is the proof that objects were destroyed, and when. Each entry holds only the object's ID and the destruction time.

  1. On the Retention Policies tab, click Download destruction log.
  2. An Excel file downloads with every destroyed object still within the log retention period.

Limitations​

  • Destruction is irreversible — once the retention period ends, the object can't be recovered.
  • The destruction log records only object IDs and timestamps, not names or users, so keep the archival comments meaningful while objects are still in the archive.