Configuring and managing the archiving process

You can configure and manage the archiving process for your system from the AR System Archive Manager console. You can perform the following tasks from the Archive Manager console:

To configure archiving for your system

Log in to Mid Tier as an administrator.
Select Application > AR System Administration > AR System Archive Manager console.
By default, the Enable Server Group Archiving check box is selected indicating that archiving is enabled. The default frequency of archiving is every 24 hours.
To disable archiving, clear the Enable Server Group Archiving check box.
Even after disabling the archiving process, you can run an on-demand archive against selected records. Learn how to run an on-demand archive in To run an on-demand archive process.
To modify the frequency of archiving, change the value of Run Every (hours).
To modify individual archival policies for record types, complete the following steps:
1. To enable a policy, select it in the Archive Policies table, and click Enable Policy.
  The corresponding Custom Specified Age In Days column becomes blank. The archiving process uses the Default Policy Age In Days value to run archiving.
2. To specify a custom value, specify the number of days in Custom Specified Age in Days.
To disable a policy, select it in the Archive Policies table, and click Disable Policy.
The value of the Custom Specified Age in Days field changes to -1 indicating that the policy is disabled. When you re-enable the policy, the system clears the negative integer from the associated table cell, but leaves it empty. The system does not restore the previous custom Age in Days value. If you still need the archiving policy to reference the custom Age in Days value, you must re-enter the value.

To run an on-demand archive process

If you need to run an archive process outside of the archiving schedule, you can run an on-demand archive process. The on-demand archive processes let you move the data to the archive database by record type. That is, you can run the on-demand archive processes against incident requests, change requests, and so on.

From the Archive Policies table, select the record type for which you want to run the on-demand archiving process.
Click Run Selected Policy Now.

Tip

If the Run Selected Policy Now button is not visible in the UI, the policy you selected is disabled. To enable it so that you can run an on-demand archive process, make sure the policy is selected in the table, and then click Enable Policy.

Tip: If the Run Selected Policy Now button is not visible in the UI, the policy you selected is disabled. To enable it so that you can run an on-demand archive process, make sure the policy is selected in the table, and then click Enable Policy.

To prevent a record from being archived

When you archive a ticket, the ticket is removed from the production environment and sent to offline storage where it is unavailable for viewing to most end users. However, you can exclude records from the archiving process (for example, sample transactional data) by selecting the Do Not Archive check box. Anyone with update permissions for the ticket can select this option.

The Do Not Archive check box is available only on records with one of the following statuses:

Closed (BMC Helix ITSM: Change Management, BMC Helix ITSM: Service Desk)
Retired, Cancelled, or Closed Version (Knowledge Management)
Cancelled or Closed (BMC Service Request Management)

Open the record that you want to exclude from the archive.
Open the tab that contains the check box, according to the following list:
- Date/System tab (BMC Helix ITSM: Change Management, BMC Helix ITSM: Service Desk, , or Work Order)
- Dates and Costs tab ( or Service Request)
Under the System Information group, select Do Not Archive.
Click Save.

If later you decide that the record can be archived, clear the Do Not Archive check box, and the record will be included in the next run of the archive process.

Stopping an archive run after it has started

If you need to stop the archive run after it has started, there are a few ways to do that, depending on the type of archiving run you need to stop:

Scheduled, full archive run—To stop an entire, scheduled archive run in mid-process, from the AR System Archive Manager console, turn archiving off.
Individual archiving policy—To stop an individual archiving policy in mid-process when it is part of a scheduled archiving run, disable the policy in the AR System Archive Manager console. When you disable an individual policy that is part of a regular archiving run, the archiving run skips the remainder of the qualified records covered by the disabled policy and moves on to the next archive policy.
On-demand archive—To stop an on-demand archive, disable the applicable policy in the AR System Archive Manager console.

When you turn off archiving or disable an archiving policy as mentioned here, the archiving process finishes archiving the record currently being processed and then stops or moves on to the next archiving policy. All of the records that the archiving run processed before you disabled it remains committed to the Archive form. For more information, see Managing the Archiving process policies.

Server events and logging

To create an entry for archiving in the Server Events form,

Go to AR System Administration > AR System Administration Console > General > Server Information.
On the Server Events tab, select the Archive option.

If you select the Archive check box, every archive event is logged into the Server Events form.

The following fields are populated with the archive event data on the Server Events form:

Event Type—(14) AR_SVR_EVENT_ARCHIVE_DONE.
Event Cause—One of the following entries:
- (1) AR_SVR_EVENT_ARCHIVE_FORM (Copy to archive only).
- (2) AR_SVR_EVENT_ARCHIVE_DELETE (Delete from source only).
- (3) AR_SVR_EVENT_ARCHIVE_FORM_DELETE (Copy to archive and delete from source).
Event Date—Date and time of the end of the archive operation.
Event Details 1—Source form name.
Event Details 2—One of the following entries:
- Copy to archive and Copy to archive and delete from the source.
  numberOfRecordsTransferred—totalNumberOfEntriesAttempted
- Delete from source
  numberOfRecordsDeleted—totalNumberOfEntriesAttempted
Event Details 3—Destination form name.

FAQ

The following FAQs provide you with information about the archiving process:

What if my installation uses custom forms?

If you perform customizations in your BMC Helix ITSM environment, you should be aware of the archiving information in the AR System online documentation. The information in the AR System documentation is intended for people who need a deeper understanding of how the archiving process works. For example, people who create custom forms. In the AR System online documentation, start with the The referenced document [xwiki:Service-Management.IT-Service-Management.itsmMaster2._inclusionsLibrary_itsm._itsm_ars_LinksLibrary.WebHome] was not found. topic.

In general, if your installation has custom forms that are child forms of a primary application form (for example, your custom form is a child of the HPD:Help Desk form), you must define an association to follow between the primary application form and the custom child form. For information about creating an association between a primary form and a child, see The referenced document [xwiki:Service-Management.IT-Service-Management.itsmMaster2._inclusionsLibrary_itsm._itsm_ars_LinksLibrary.WebHome] was not found. in the AR System online documentation. For more information about associations, see The referenced document [xwiki:Service-Management.IT-Service-Management.itsmMaster2._inclusionsLibrary_itsm._itsm_ars_LinksLibrary.WebHome] was not found..

If you create new primary forms for which you want to enable archiving, you must enable form level archiving on that form. For information about enabling form level archiving, see The referenced document [xwiki:Service-Management.IT-Service-Management.itsmMaster2._inclusionsLibrary_itsm._itsm_ars_LinksLibrary.WebHome] was not found. in the AR System online documentation.

If upgrading, can earlier customizations affect archiving?

If you are upgrading, customizations performed on an earlier installation, can prevent some records from being archived.

To make sure that previous customization will not affect archiving, review all the custom and overlaid filters that fulfill the following criteria:

They are defined for parent and child forms covered by the archiving policies
They are triggered by an On Delete action

You must make sure that these filters do not cause exceptions during the archiving process. For more information, see What happens if the archiving process encounters an error or exception condition in a record?

After an upgrade, can I archive records that were created before the upgrade?

Yes. All records that meet the criteria defined in the archiving process policy for that record type are archived, regardless of when they were submitted. To read more about archiving process policies and how to manage them, see Managing-the-Archiving-process-policies.

Which application records are archived?

To understand which application records are archived, refer to the records and forms listed in the BMC Helix ITSM data archiving policy.

What types of records are not archived?

The following record types are not archived:

BMC Requester console records
Foundation data
Process setup

How can I find out which associated forms are archived with the main forms?

If you have Archive Admin permissions, you can see a list of the associated forms that are archived along with the main form by opening the main form in Developer Studio (for example, HPD:Helpdesk) and then opening the Definitions tab. On the Definitions tab, expand the Other Definitions panel and then expand the Associations to Follow for Archive panel.

To view the list of associated archived record definitions with the main record definitions in BMC Helix Innovation Studio, complete the following steps:

Open a record definition.
In the Details panel, navigate to the ARCHIVING section.
View the Associations to Follow, and if required, add new associations to follow.
Click Save.

How does the archiving process determine when a record is ready to archive?

This depends on the application. Refer to the following sections for a description of when the given main forms are archived for each BMC Helix ITSM application:

BMC Change Management

By default, the archiving process archives BMC Helix ITSM: Change Management records according to the following criteria (all of the conditions must be true):

The record status must be Closed.
However, in some cases, child records such as Task, which are still open, will be archived.
The Do Not Archive flag value for the record must be null; which means, the flag is not selected.
The number of days elapsed since the record Submit Date must be at least 548 (18 months). This value represents the default value and is configurable for each main form by changing the Age in days value.

BMC Knowledge Management

By default, the archiving process archives the following BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management record types:

Knowledge Management
Search History
Search History Company
Search History Operational Categorization
Search History Organizational Department
Search History Product Categorization
Search History Service
Search History Site Region
Search History Source
Search History Visibility Group

The archiving process archives BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management records according to the following criteria (all of the conditions must be true):

The record status must be one of the following values depending on the record type:
- Retired
- Cancelled
- Closed Version
The Do Not Archive flag value for the record must be null (that is, the flag is not selected).
The number of days elapsed since the record's last modified date must be at least 90 (3 months). This value represents the default value and is configurable for each main form by changing the Age in days value.

BMC Service Desk

By default, the archiving process archives the following BMC Helix ITSM: Service Desk record types:

Incident Management
Problem Management
Solution Database
Known Error

The archiving process archives BMC Helix ITSM: Service Desk records according to the following criteria (all of the conditions must be true):

The record status must be Closed
In some cases, however, child records such as Task, which are still open, will be archived.
The Do Not Archive flag value for the record must be null; that is, the flag is not selected.
The number of days elapsed since the record Submit Date must be at least 548 (18 months). This value represents the default value and is configurable for each main form by changing the Age in days value.

BMC Service Request Management

By default, the archiving process archives the following BMC Service Request Management record types:

Service requests
Work orders

The Archive policy archives BMC Service Request Management records according to the following criteria (all of the conditions must be true):

The record status must be one of the following values:
- Cancelled
- Closed
The Do Not Archive flag value for the record must be null; that is, the flag is not selected.
The number of days elapsed since the record Submit Date must be at least 548 (18 months). This value represents the default value and is configurable for each main form.

BMC Helix CMDB

By default, the archiving process archives the following records and creates associations of the archived records and their relationships:

CMDB forms in CDM
Custom classes
Record properties

You can configure the criteria to archive the CMDB data based on the following values:

Classes that you want to archive
Root class attributes
Keywords

Learn more about the BMC Helix CMDB archival policy in Archiving CMDB data.

If my environment uses data mirroring, will that have an impact on the archiving process?

No. Data mirroring and the Archive process can happen simultaneously without one operation interfering with the other.

How do I administer the archiving process?

By using the AR System Archive Manager console, you can administer the archiving policies that tell the system when to move records from the production forms to the archive forms. You can also use the AR System Archive Manager console to delete all older archived records. For more information about administering archiving policies from the AR System Archive Manager console, see Managing-the-Archiving-process-policies.

Learn more about exporting and deleting archived data in Exporting and deleting archived data.

How often are records archived?

The archiving process uses a concept called continuous archiving. Continuous archiving employs a mechanism that automatically archives records, by default, every 24 hours. You can configure the archiving process process to run more or less often, according to the needs of your environment. When you continuously archive records. it limits the strain that an archive run has on the system. By limiting the strain on the system, you can make sure that the performance and reliability as compared to archiving a larger volume of records. For example, every 3 months.

By default, for SaaS deployments, archiving is scheduled for weekends.

What happens if the archiving process encounters an error or exception condition in a record?

The main form and all the related child forms of a given record must be error or exception free. If the archiving process encounters any errors or exceptions in a record, it rolls back the entire archive process for that record and does not include the record in that archiving run.For information about troubleshooting the records that meet the archiving policy, but are not being picked up in the archiving process, see Troubleshooting-the-Archiving-process.

Can you search for archived data from the BMC Helix ITSM applications?

Because archived records are removed from the production system and stored in an archive form, you cannot find them from the application by searching.

System administrators can access archived data by generating reports that can be run against the archive forms using BMC Helix Dashboards. For archived data, BMC recommends looking at aggregated reports instead of each ticket.

For more details, refer to BMC Helix ITSM data archiving policy.

Does archiving work differently in a multitenant environment?

No. The archiving policies are tied to the main application forms, not tenancy. You can define only one archiving policy for each main application form. For example, if your multitenant environment has three companies, Company A, Company B, and Company C, the archiving process applies the one Incident Management archiving policy equally to the incident requests in each of those companies. The qualified incident requests from companies A, B, and C are all archived in the same run of the archiving process.

Can I modify an archive form?

BMC does not recommend creating or modifying an overlay on an Archive form.

BMC allows additive permissions on overlays of Archive forms. BMC also recommends customizing the Archive form if the Original Request ID or Original Create Data fields are required.

What happens to the permissions of archived records?

Archiving has no impact on permissions. When a record is moved from a production form to an archiving form, the archiving form inherits the permission levels of the production form.

What happens to the child records when the parent record is archived?

When a parent record is archived, all of its child records are also archived, regardless of their state.

For example, when an incident record with three associated tasks (one of which still has a status of Open) is archived, all the task records are archived, including the task that is still open. In addition, any broadcasts created directly from an archived record are removed from the production system.

When two peer records are related, what happens when one is archived and the other is not?

Consider the following scenario: You have a change request, which according to the archiving policy is ready for archiving and this change request is related to an incident request that is not ready for archiving.

After the next archiving process runs:

The change request is archived.
The incident request is still available in the production environment.
On the incident request, the Relationships table on the Relationship tab still contains a reference to the archived change request, but if you select the reference in the table, the system displays a message telling you that the selected record was archived.
The Quick Actions menu of the Relationships table is disabled, when the archived record shown in the table is selected.

Does archiving affect sample transactional data?

Yes. Sample transactional data will be archived if it meets the archiving criteria. To prevent seed and sample data from being archived, use the Do Not Archive flag on that data.

Important
The Do Not Archive flag is available only on records that have a status of Closed, Canceled, Retired, or Closed Version, depending on the record type.

Can an application access data on the archive forms?

No. The archive forms have no code associated with them. The archive forms are only data repositories organized to look like the production form. The archiving process is meant to help maintain system performance by eliminating obsolete records from the production forms.

Important

After the data is copied to an archive form, it cannot be copied back into production.

Who can access the data after it is archived, and how?

Any user, who can access the main forms, can archive the data. The user can access archived data by generating reports that can be run against the archiving forms by using third-party reporting applications.

Is there any impact on overall system performance when the Archive process is running?

Archiving has minimal impact on the overall system performance while the archiving process is in progress.

For more information, see Multi-threaded archiving in the AR System server section of the 19.02 enhancements in the AR System documentation.

Are there other ways to maintain system performance?

Yes. Make sure that you continue to perform regular database maintenance activities to help maintain the performance gains realized by running the archiving process.

How to archive attachments?

The No attachment flag in the Archive Property section of a form determines whether to archive the attachments or not. By default, the flag is not selected. To archive attachments, make sure that the flag is not selected.

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