Data archival

Archiving helps organizations manage data growth by moving aging data to archived forms based on defined policies and retention periods. This policy‑driven process reduces active data volume and frees up space for new and current records.

BMC Helix Business Workflows includes the following types of data archival:

• Transaction data archival—Archives case‑related data, including closed and canceled cases, child records, and case extension fields.
• Incoming email messages archival—Archives processed incoming email messages associated with case activity.

By default, data archival policies are disabled in BMC Helix Business Workflows. Administrators must configure and enable them from the AR System Archival Management Console.

Case business analysts can access archived forms to create views and reports. Additionally, they can use the Do Not Archive flag to exclude sensitive cases and related emails from being archived, ensuring that critical information is retained beyond the standard retention period.

Learn more about archiving in Archiving data and Configuring and managing the archiving process.

Before you begin

To enable and configure data archival, you must have AR System administrator permissions in AR System Archival Management Console.

Transaction data archival

Transaction data archival manages the growth of case-related data by archiving completed transactional records, including closed and canceled cases, associated child records, and case extension fields. Archival is defined by the BWF Case Archival Policy, which provides default retention and qualification settings that administrators can modify as needed.

Once the archival policy is enabled, data is archived based on the following default criteria:

Record definition Name	Record operation	Archived record definition name	Record age (in days)	Criteria for archival	Qualification	Post archival action
Cases	Archive and delete the source record	Case_Archive	730	Modified date	(Ticket Status = "7000" OR Ticket Status = "6000") and (Do Not Archive = "No" OR Do Not Archive ="" OR Do Not Archive = $NULL$)	Export to SFTP  and Delete Delete

To configure transaction data archival

1. Log in to Mid Tier.
2. Select Application > AR System Administration > AR System Archive Manager Console. 
3. To enable the archival policy, select BWF Case Archival Policy from the Policy Description list.
4. Click Enable Policy, as shown in the following image:
   
5. To modify the qualification criteria and the number of days after which a record is archived, update the Qualification and Age in Days field as shown in the following image:
6. Click Apply. 
7. (Optional) To disable the policy, click Disable Policy. When the policy is disabled, the Custom Specified Age in Days column has a value of -1. 

To export and delete archived data

After data is archived, administrators can export and delete it by using the System Archive Export function in AR System Archive Manager Console. Archived data can be exported as comma-separated (.csv) files or permanently deleted from archive tables.

1. Navigate to the System Archive Export section in AR System Archive Manager Console.
2. Select the required Operation; for example, Export to SFTP and Delete.
3. Enter the Age in Days to specify how old the data must be for export.
4. Click Export to start the process.

The following screenshot displays the export options available for the archived data:

To view the archived records

You can view the archived records from BMC Helix Innovation Studio. This is only applicable to cases, not emails.

1. As an administrator or case business analyst, log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio. 
2. On the Workspace tab, click Case Management Service. 
3. On the Records tab, search for Case_Archive.
4. Click the checkbox next to Case_Archive.
5. Click Edit data. 
   A list of all the archived records is displayed, as shown in the following image: 
   
6. Review the archived records and click Close. 

Archiving case extension fields

Case extension fields are archived out of the box. No additional configuration is required from customers.

When upgrading from a version earlier than 25.4 and you have existing case extension fields, you must manually configure them for archiving.

To configure archiving for case extension fields

1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio.
2. On the Workspace tab, select the line of business for which you want to configure archival for case extension fields.
3. Go to Case Extension Fields.
4. Turn on the Enabled toggle key to activate archiving.
5. Set the Record Operation to Archive and delete source record.
6. Check the Include Attachments option to ensure attachments are archived along with the records.
7. Specify the Archive Record Definition Name as Case Extension Fields_Archive.
8. Click Save.

The following screenshot shows the fields that must be configured to enable archiving for case extension fields:

Incoming email messages archival

Incoming email messages archival manages growth of email data by archiving processed incoming email messages. Archival is defined by the BWF Incoming Email Message Policy, which provides default retention and qualification settings that administrators can modify as needed.

Post archival, you cannot view archived incoming email messages in BMC Helix Innovation Studio.

When the archival policy is enabled, incoming email messages are archived according to the default criteria:

Record definition Name	Record operation	Archived record definition name	Record age (in days)	Criteria for archival	Qualification	Post archival action
Incoming email messages	Delete source record	NA	90	Modified date	Status = "Success" and (Do Not Archive = "No" OR Do Not Archive ="" OR Do Not Archive = $NULL$)	NA

To configure incoming email messages archival

Incoming email messages archival uses the same configuration steps as transaction data archival. During policy selection, make sure that you select the BWF Incoming Email Message Policy. For more information, see To configure transaction data archival.

To prevent a record from being archived

You can skip archival for special cases and incoming email messages when data needs to be retained.

1. As an administrator or case business analyst, log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio. 
2. On the Workspace tab, click Case Management Service. 
3. On the Records tab, click the checkbox next to Case and then click Edit data. 
4. Select the case you want to exclude from the archive, then click Edit.
5. In the Edit record window, use the toggle key to enable Do Not Archive.
6. Click Save.

The following screenshot shows how to prevent a case from being archived: 

Troubleshooting FAQs 

The following FAQ provides you with information about the archiving process: 

What should I do if the archival job fails or doesn’t run as scheduled?

If the archival job fails or doesn’t run as scheduled, check the AR Archive logs, identify the root cause, and manually rerun the job.

Why are some cases not being archived even though they meet the criteria?

Some specific cases might not be archived due to customizations that intentionally prevent their deletion or archival.

Why is the archived data missing attachments?

Make sure that the Include attachments option is selected during the archival configuration.

What happens if a record is marked for archival, but its related child records are missing?

Suppose a record is marked for archival, but its related child records are missing. In that case, the archival might fail or be incomplete. Track the issue using AR Archive logs to identify and resolve dependencies.

Can I archive Knowledge Articles?

No, archiving of Knowledge Articles is not supported.