DocumentationExperience Cloud KCS

Manage page versions and audit log retention in AEM as a Cloud Service

Last update: October 27, 2026

If historical page versions and audit log entries are missing in Adobe Experience Manager as a Cloud Service (AEMaaCS), configure retention policies to prevent unintended data loss.

Description description

Environment

Adobe Experience Manager as a Cloud Service (all versions)

Symptoms

  • Historical page versions are missing in AEM Author.
  • Audit log entries for certain dates or events are no longer available.

Cause

AEM as a Cloud Service uses maintenance tasks to automatically purge old page versions and audit log entries based on the configured retention policies. If the version-purge policy is set to retain only a limited number of versions or for a limited number of days, older versions might be deleted during scheduled maintenance. Similarly, audit log entries are retained only for the configured period and are purged automatically when that period expires. If the configuration does not protect labelled versions, those can also be deleted.

Resolution resolution

Follow the steps to prevent a recurrence of the issue:

  1. Locate your environment’s maintenance configuration file (typically named maintenance.yaml or similar, found in your codebase under the configuration directory for your environment).

  2. Review the version purge settings under the versionPurge section. Key parameters include:

    • maximumVersions: Maximum number of versions retained per page.
    • maximumAgeDays: Maximum age (in days) for retained versions.
    • minimumVersions: Minimum number of versions to always retain.
    • retainLabelledVersions: If set to false, labelled versions are not protected from purge.
    • paths: List of content paths (usually includes /content).

  3. Understand retention behavior:

    • Versions older than maximumAgeDays or exceeding maximumVersions might be purged during scheduled maintenance.
    • If retainLabelledVersions is false, labelled versions can be deleted.
    • The policy applies globally to all paths listed; path-specific retention is not supported.

  4. Review audit log retention settings. Audit log entries are retained based on the configured period (for example, 30 days). Older entries are automatically purged and cannot be recovered.

  5. To preserve important versions:

    • Set retainLabelledVersions to true if you want to protect labelled versions from being purged.
    • Adjust maximumVersions, maximumAgeDays, and minimumVersions as needed to meet your business requirements.
    • Test configuration changes in a lower environment before deploying to production.

Once a version or audit log entry is purged, it cannot be recovered. Prevention relies on correct configuration of retention policies.

Maintenance Tasks in AEM as a Cloud Service

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