Form Data Cleanup

Overview

This page describes how to configure automatic cleanup of form data stored in the content repository.

When to Use

Configure form data cleanup to prevent the /formdata storage area from growing without limit. This process removes outdated or temporary form submissions from the repository.

How Form Data Cleanup Works

Form data submitted through the site is stored under /formdata in the repository. The FormDataCleanupJob is a scheduled job that deletes old hst:formdata nodes based on configurable criteria. The job runs according to a cron expression and is managed by the repository scheduler.

Prerequisites

Access to the Console
Permission to modify repository configuration nodes

Configuration Steps

Open the Console and navigate to the following node:

/hippo:configuration/hippo:modules/scheduler/hippo:moduleconfig/system/FormDataCleanup

Configure the following attributes as needed:
- minutestolive
  Specifies the time to live (TTL) for form data nodes, in minutes. Nodes older than this value are deleted.
  - Default: 1440 (24 hours)
  - Set to -1 to disable automatic cleanup.
- excludepaths
  Defines repository paths to exclude from cleanup. Separate multiple paths with a pipe (|). Nodes under these paths are not deleted.
  - Default: /formdata/permanent/
- batchsize
  Determines how many nodes are processed before the JCR session is saved.
  - Default: 100
  - Recommended range: 10 to 1000
  - Adjust only if processing a very large number of nodes (e.g., millions).
Review the cron expression configured in the trigger node below the job node. The cron expression defines when the cleanup job runs.
- To change the schedule, update the cron expression as needed.
- For syntax details, refer to the Quartz cron trigger tutorial.

How the Cleanup Job Operates

At each scheduled run, the FormDataCleanupJob searches for all nodes of type hst:formdata. It deletes nodes older than the configured TTL, except for nodes located under any excluded paths.

Verification

Confirm that outdated form data nodes are being deleted according to your configuration.
Check the /formdata path in the repository to verify that only recent or excluded nodes remain.