Monitoring Splunk

Delete specific data in cluster environment

NOORULAINE
Loves-to-Learn Lots

Hi

 

How to delete only specific data from the specific index(note: not the entire data)in clustered environment

Labels (1)
0 Karma

gcusello
SplunkTrust
SplunkTrust

Hi @NOORULAINE ,

as @PickleRick said, it's possible to delete events (not the entire index) but it's only a logic deletion, not physical only, enabling the can_delete role for the user and it's a very dangerous feature that usually is disabled also for administrators.

The only phisical detetions are the splunk clean eventdata command, but it deletes the entire index and when a bucket rolls from cold at the end of the retention time.

Ciao.

Giuseppe

0 Karma

PickleRick
SplunkTrust
SplunkTrust

With Splunk there is no way to delete data from the index other than the normal rolling oldest buckets to frozen.

There is the "delete" command but it doesn't actually delete the data from the index files (since the index files are immutable after creation and may be - as mentioned above - only rolled as a whole) but it marks that data as not searchable.

That's one of the reasons why you should test your configurations - especially the input-related elements - in a dev/test environment before deploying it to production.

0 Karma
Get Updates on the Splunk Community!

Application management with Targeted Application Install for Victoria Experience

  Experience a new era of flexibility in managing your Splunk Cloud Platform apps! With Targeted Application ...

Index This | What goes up and never comes down?

January 2026 Edition  Hayyy Splunk Education Enthusiasts and the Eternally Curious!   We’re back with this ...

Splunkers, Pack Your Bags: Why Cisco Live EMEA is Your Next Big Destination

The Power of Two: Splunk + Cisco at "Ludicrous Scale"   You know Splunk. You know Cisco. But have you seen ...