Isilon: Snapshots Created by NetWorker on Isilon Never Expire, Are not Deleted
Summary: When NetWorker uses Isilon as a backup destination and is configured to create snapshots for the backups, those snapshots show as Never for the expiration date. The expiration time configured in the Snapshot policy on NetWorker does not take effect. ...
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Symptoms
Snapshots may build up and consume more space than expected on the cluster. Older snapshots do not expire.
NetWorker can be configured to generate backup snapshots on the Isilon cluster (or other target). These snapshots can be identified by starting with EMCDP for the snapshot name.
On the Isilon cluster, these snapshots are configured to never expire as can be seen in the output of the following command:
These NetWorker policies might not take effect if there are other retention policies on NetWorker that override these policies.
For example, the Media Pool retention policies on NetWorker for the Isilon snapshots override the client and snapshot policies set. For example, if the media-pool for the Isilon is set to retain for a year, the snapshots do not delete for a year, despite other configurations.
Retention dates on NetWorker can be seen in the output of this command:
NetWorker can be configured to generate backup snapshots on the Isilon cluster (or other target). These snapshots can be identified by starting with EMCDP for the snapshot name.
On the Isilon cluster, these snapshots are configured to never expire as can be seen in the output of the following command:
# isi snapshot snapshots listThis is expected behavior, as NetWorker maintains expiration for these snapshots locally and deletes the snapshots based on the NetWorker policies.
These NetWorker policies might not take effect if there are other retention policies on NetWorker that override these policies.
For example, the Media Pool retention policies on NetWorker for the Isilon snapshots override the client and snapshot policies set. For example, if the media-pool for the Isilon is set to retain for a year, the snapshots do not delete for a year, despite other configurations.
Retention dates on NetWorker can be seen in the output of this command:
mminfo -avot -q client=<client name> -r "volume,pool,savetime(22),clretent,ssflags,clflags,name"
Cause
The cause is settings for retention in one or more places on NetWorker. The snapshot retention policies can be overridden if the Media Pool policy has a greater retention time.
Resolution
Correct the settings on NetWorker to match the wanted case.
Affected Products
IsilonArticle Properties
Article Number: 000015389
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 11 Feb 2026
Version: 6
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