Version Purging

Last update: April 24, 2024

CREATED FOR:

  • Admin

In a standard installation, Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) creates a version of a page or node when you activate a page after updating the content.

NOTE
If no content changes are made, then you see the message stating that the page has been activated, but no new version is created.

You can create additional versions on request using the Versioning tab of the sidekick. These versions are stored in the repository and can be restored, if necessary.

These versions are never purged, so the repository size grows over time and therefore must be managed.

AEM is shipped with various mechanisms to help you manage your repository:

  • the Version Manager
    This can be configured to purge old versions when new versions are created.

  • the Purge Versions tool
    This is used as part of monitoring and maintaining your repository.
    It lets you intervene to remove old versions of a node, or a hierarchy of nodes, according to these parameters:

    • The maximum number of versions to be kept in the repository.
      When this number is exceeded, the oldest version is removed.

    • The maximum age of any version kept in the repository.
      When the age of a version exceeds this value, it is purged from the repository.

  • the Version Purge maintenance task. You can schedule the Version Purge maintenance task to delete old versions automatically. As a result, this minimizes the need to manually use the Version Purge tools.

CAUTION
To optimize the repository size, run the version purge task frequently. The task should be scheduled outside of business hours when there is a limited amount of traffic.

Version Manager

In addition to explicit purging by using the purge tool, the Version Manager can be configured to purge old versions when new versions are created.

To configure the Version Manager, create a configuration for:

PID com.day.cq.wcm.core.impl.VersionManagerImpl

The following options are available:

  • versionmanager.createVersionOnActivation (Boolean, default: true)
    Specifies whether to create a version when pages are activated.
    A version is created unless the replication agent is configured to suppress the creation of versions, which is honored by the Version Manager.
    A version is created only if the activation happens on a path that is contained in versionmanager.ivPaths (see below).

  • versionmanager.ivPaths(String[], default: {"/"})
    Specifies the paths on which versions are implicitly created on activation if versionmanager.createVersionOnActivation is set to true.

  • versionmanager.purgingEnabled (Boolean, default: false)
    Defines whether to enable purging when new versions are created.

  • versionmanager.purgePaths (String[], default: {“/content”})
    Specifies on which paths to purge versions when new versions are created.

  • versionmanager.maxAgeDays (int, default: 30)
    On version purge, any version older than the configured value is removed. If the value is less than 1, purging is not performed based on the age of the version.

  • versionmanager.maxNumberVersions (int, default 5)
    On version purge, any version older than the n-th newest version is removed. If the value is less than 1, purging is not performed based on the number of versions.

  • versionmanager.minNumberVersions (int, default 0)
    The minimum number of versions that are kept regardless of the age. If the value is set to a value less than 1, no minimum number of versions is retained.

NOTE
It is not recommended to keep many versions in the repository. So, when configuring the version purge operation, be mindful not to exclude too many versions from the purge, otherwise the repository size is not properly optimized. If you keep a large number versions due to business requirements, contact Adobe support to find alternative ways of optimizing the repository size.

Combining Retention Options

The options defining how which versions should be retained ( maxAgeDays, maxNumberVersions, minNumberVersions), can be combined depending on your requirements.

For example, when defining the maximum number of versions to retain AND the oldest version to retain:

  • Setting:

    • maxNumberVersions = 7

    • maxAgeDays = 30

  • With:

    • Ten versions were made within the past 60 days
    • Three of those versions were created within the past 30 days

  • It means that:

    • The last three versions are retained

For example, when defining the maximum AND minimum number of versions to retain AND the oldest version to retain:

  • Setting:

    • maxNumberVersions = 3
    • maxAgeDays = 30
    • minNumberVersions = 3

  • With:

    • Five versions were made 60 days ago

  • It means that:

    • Three versions are retained

Purge Versions Tool

The Purge Versions tool is intended for purging the versions of a node or a hierarchy of nodes in your repository. Its primary purpose is to help you reduce the size of your repository by removing old versions of your nodes.

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