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Working with retention classes


Retention classes provide a means to consistently manage data that must remain in a namespace for a specific amount of time. For example, if local law requires that medical records be kept for a specified number of years, you can use a retention class to enforce that requirement.

Retention classes are defined on a per-namespace basis. The classes you create for one namespace are not visible in any other namespace.

You create retention classes in the Tenant Management Console. Users and applications can then use those classes as retention settings for objects.

This chapter describes retention classes and explains how to create, modify, and delete them.

For information about how users and applications use retention classes, see Using a Namespace.

© 2015, 2019 Hitachi Vantara Corporation. All rights reserved.

About retention classes


A retention class is a named value that, when used as the retention setting for an object, specifies how long the object must remain in its namespace. This value can be:

An offset from the time the object is created. You specify an offset as numbers of years, months, and/or days.

For example, you could create a retention class named HlthReg-107 with an offset of 21 years. Then, all objects assigned HlthReg-107 as their retention setting could not be deleted for 21 years after they’re created.

One of these special values:

oDeletion Allowed — The object can be deleted at any time.

oDeletion Prohibited — The object can never be deleted by means of a normal delete operation. If the namespace is in enterprise mode, however, the object can be deleted by means of a privileged delete operation.

oInitial Unspecified — The retention period for the object is unspecified. The object cannot be deleted by means of a normal delete operation while it has this retention setting. If the namespace is in enterprise mode, however, the object can be deleted by means of a privileged delete operation.

A fixed future date that the object will be deleted.

The retention period for an object assigned to a retention class is calculated from the value of that class. So, for example, if an object stored on October 8, 2011, is assigned to a retention class with an offset value of seven years, the retention period for that object expires on October 8, 2018.

You can choose to have HCP automatically delete the objects assigned to a retention class when they expire. This applies only to retention classes with a value that’s an offset. It does not apply to retention classes with special values.

Automatic deletion of expired objects in retention classes occurs only if disposition is enabled. For information about disposition, see Disposition.

To view, create, and manage retention classes for a namespace, you use the Retention Classes panel for that namespace. To display this panel:

1.In the top-level menu of the Tenant Management Console, click Namespaces.

2.In the list of namespaces, click the name of the namespace you want.

3.In the row of tabs below the namespace name, click Compliance.

4.On the left side of the Compliance panel, click Retention Classes.

RoleWebHelp.png

Roles: To view retention classes, you need the monitor, administrator, or compliance role. To create, modify, and delete retention classes, you need the compliance role.

© 2015, 2019 Hitachi Vantara Corporation. All rights reserved.

Understanding the retention class list


The Retention Classes panel lists the retention classes defined for a namespace. For each class, the list shows:

The retention class name.

Whether the retention class value is an offset, special value, or fixed date.

The retention class value.

A value that’s an offset has this format:

A+ny+nm+nd

In this format, y is the number of years, m is the number of months, and d is the number of days. Only the measurement units with nonzero values are shown. For example, an offset of two years and 5 days looks like this:

A+2y+5d

Whether expired objects in the retention class are automatically deleted (Allow Disposition).

To view the description of a listed retention class, click the class name.

© 2015, 2019 Hitachi Vantara Corporation. All rights reserved.

Creating a retention class


To create a retention class in a given namespace, in the Retention Classes panel:

1.Click Create Retention Class.

2.In the Create Retention Class panel:

oIn the Retention Class Name field, type a name for the retention class. Retention class names must be from one through 64 characters long, can contain only alphanumeric characters, hyphens (-), and underscores (_), and are not case sensitive.

oTake one of these actions:

To make the retention class value an offset, in the Retention Method field, select Offset. Then do one or more of these:

In the Years field, type a number of years. Valid values are integers in the range zero through 9,999.

In the Months field, type a number of months. Possible values are integers in the range zero through 9,999.

In the Days field, type a number of days. Possible values are integers in the range zero through 9,999.

To make the retention class value a special value:

1.In the Retention Method field, select Special Value.

2.In the Special Value field, select the special value you want.

To make the retention class a fixed date:

1.In the Retention Method field, select Fixed Date.

2.In the Fixed Date field, type the date you want. The date format is mm/dd/yyyy.

oOptionally, in the Description field, type a description of the retention class. The description can be up to 1,024 characters long and can contain any valid UTF-8 characters, including white space.

oOptionally, select Allow Disposition service to delete objects when expired to have HCP automatically delete expired objects in the retention class. This option is present only when the retention method is offset.

3.Click Create Retention Class.

© 2015, 2019 Hitachi Vantara Corporation. All rights reserved.

Modifying a retention class


You can increase the value of a retention class at any time. These changes increase the value:

From an offset to a larger offset

From Deletion Allowed to an offset or Deletion Prohibited

If the namespace is in enterprise mode, you can decrease the value of a retention class at any time. These changes decrease the value:

From an offset to a smaller offset

From an offset to Deletion Allowed

From Deletion Prohibited to an offset or Deletion Allowed

If the value of a retention class is Initial Unspecified, you can change it to any other value at any time. You can change the value to Initial Unspecified only from Deletion Allowed.

You can enable or disable the autodeletion feature at any time. You can also change the class description at any time.

To modify an existing retention class, in the Retention Classes panel:

1.In the list of retention classes, click the edit control ( EditControl.png ) for the retention class you want to modify.

2.In the Edit Retention Class window, make the changes you want. For information about the fields and options in this panel, see Creating a retention class.

3.Click Update Settings.

© 2015, 2019 Hitachi Vantara Corporation. All rights reserved.

Deleting a retention class


You can delete a retention class only if the namespace in which the class is defined is in enterprise mode. You cannot delete a retention class in a namespace that’s in compliance mode.

When you delete a retention class, the retention setting of each object in the class changes to Deletion Prohibited.

To delete a retention class, in the Retention Classes panel:

1.In the list of retention classes, click the delete control (   DeleteControl.png ) for the retention class you want to delete.

2.In response to the confirming message, click Delete Retention Class.

© 2015, 2019 Hitachi Vantara Corporation. All rights reserved.

 

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