Getting Data In

Why is coldPath.maxDataSizeMB taking precedence and growing until parameter is reached?

srteclesmayer
New Member

I have the following configuration for an index extracted by using btool:

/opt/splunk/etc/system/local/indexes.conf   coldPath.maxDataSizeMB = 1843200
/opt/splunk/etc/system/local/indexes.conf   maxTotalDataSizeMB = 500000

But the coldPath doesn't care about maxTotalDataSizeMB parameter and it gets bigger and bigger:

950G    ./colddb
36G     ./frozendb
74M     ./datamodel_summary
4.0K    ./thaweddb
985G    .

So I checked how other indexes in my production environment were configured. For other indexes, I have the following configuration:

/opt/splunk/etc/system/local/indexes.conf   coldPath.maxDataSizeMB = 0
/opt/splunk/etc/system/local/indexes.conf   maxTotalDataSizeMB = 500000

And for these cases the rotation works propertly.

So my opinion is that coldPath.maxDataSizeMB has precedence over maxTotalDataSizeMB and even when maxTotalDataSizeMB is reached it keeps growing until coldPath.maxDataSizeMB parameter is reached.

I hope someone can help me to understand this situation because I'm suffering a huge problem in my environment.

Thank you in advance.

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!

[Puzzles] Solve, Learn, Repeat: Tiling

This puzzle (first published here) is based on finding groups of tessellated tiles (inspired by floor tiles I ...

SOK it to Me: Top 3 Benefits of Using Splunk Operator on Kubernetes that’ll Make ...

    Thursday, July 9, 2026  |  11:00AM–12:00PM PDT Duration: 1 hour (includes Q&A) Managing can feel like a ...

Upgrade Prep for 10.4, Network Observability Deep Dives, and More from Splunk Lantern

Splunk Lantern is Splunk’s customer success center that provides practical guidance from Splunk experts on key ...