Getting Data In

Problems Deleting Data in Splunk 6

conner9
Path Finder

Trying to delete data from an index for a specific day, and keep getting an error.

index=os sourcetype=ps provides 600k results for a single day.

index=os sourcetype=ps | delete results in "job terminated unexpectedly" "search terminated because of an error"

Yes the account has the delete functionality.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Tags (2)
1 Solution

conner9
Path Finder

I found my particular problem. Some of the files in my index directory were owned by root, and it was preventing my deletes from taking affect. As soon as I reset ownership to splunk:splunk, it started working again.

View solution in original post

conner9
Path Finder

I found my particular problem. Some of the files in my index directory were owned by root, and it was preventing my deletes from taking affect. As soon as I reset ownership to splunk:splunk, it started working again.

jtrucks
Splunk Employee
Splunk Employee

Have you tried deleting data for only a couple hours or some other shorter period of time? It is possible you are hitting resource constraints that are messing with the completion of the job.

--
Jesse Trucks
Minister of Magic

conner9
Path Finder

I did, and it was still failing.

0 Karma
Got questions? Get answers!

Join the Splunk Community Slack to learn, troubleshoot, and make connections with fellow Splunk practitioners in real time!

Meet up IRL or virtually!

Join Splunk User Groups to connect and learn in-person by region or remotely by topic or industry.

Get Updates on the Splunk Community!

At .conf26, Don’t Just See What’s Next. Help Shape It at Innovation Labs.

Long before a new capability reaches the keynote stage, it begins as an idea waiting to be tested. At ...

Forwarder Topology Guidance: Intermediate HF vs Intermediate UF

Why Universal Forwarders Should Not Be Used as Intermediate Forwarders A practical Splunk forwarding topology ...

Data Management Digest – August 2026

Data Management Digest   Welcome to the August 2026 edition of Data Management Digest! August was a big month ...