# How to Configure Audit Data Retention

Canonical: https://www.nsecsoft.com/en/course/regular-cleanup.html

Language: en-US

Updated: 2026-11-04T08:05:52.743486Z

By enabling the data cleaning capability of the Management Console, audit logs and their associated files can be automated lifecycle management based on the "retention days": the system will regularly identify and clean up data that has exceeded the retention period, helping to reduce storage usage while meeting the company's data retention policy requirements\. Enable \[…\]

By enabling the

**data cleaning**

capability of the Management Console, audit logs and their associated files can be

**automated lifecycle management**

based on the "retention days": the system will regularly identify and clean up data that has exceeded the retention period, helping to reduce storage usage while meeting the company's data retention policy requirements.

#### **Enable data cleaning**

1\. Enter the Management Console

**System Settings**

2\. Open

**Data Maintenance**

3\. Turn on the

**Data Cleaning**

switch

**Description**

-   After turning it on, the system will clean up data that has exceeded the retention period according to policies.
-   The data to be cleaned usually includes: **log records, audit logs and related archives/associated files** (subject to the actual cleaning scope configuration).
-   Cleaning is an **irreversible operation**: after the expired data is deleted, you will not be able to continue querying or backtracking on the Management Console.

![](<https://www.nsecsoft.com/site-assets/bd479a7e2f6829c160217f5ef8075eb7317c364c4447adfeb14f5da8239c94ec/efabe478eaf1f7d96068d5d586a986569716227939d301761925a1df12365dbd/f8ca96fdb42c2e0e46cf5b05ef173705b6c293146c39893e8a2393664d26d506/1-dataclean-1.png>)

#### **Configure retention days and cleanup scope**

1\. Click

**Parameter Settings**

on the

**Data Maintenance**

page

2\. Complete the following configuration in parameter settings:

-   **Data retention time (number of retention days)**: Define the upper limit of the life cycle of data
-   **Cleaning Scope/Log Type**: Select the specific data categories that need to be included in the cleaning

**Suggestion**

-   The number of retention days should be determined comprehensively based on the company's **compliance requirements**, **audit traceability period** and **storage capacity planning**.
-   If scenarios involving evidence collection, internal control audits, etc. are involved, it is recommended to evaluate the impact on the traceability link before adjusting the retention policy.

#### **Supplementary explanation: Cleanup Policy for Data Leak Tracing**

-   **Data Leak Tracing** supports finer cleaning granularity: you can choose to **only clean the outgoing files** of the "Data Leak Tracing Backup", and **keep the corresponding tracking records** without deleting them.
-   This policy is suitable for scenarios where "you want to keep the event evidence chain (record) but control the file storage occupation".