1nfexpire(1)                                                        nfexpire(1)
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NAME

6       nfexpire - data expiry program
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SYNOPSIS

9       nfexpire [options]
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DESCRIPTION

12       nfexpire  is  used  to manage the expiration of old netflow data files,
13       created by nfcapd(1) or other data collectors such as  sfcapd(1).  Data
14       expiration is done either by nfcapd(1) in auto expiry mode, or by nfex‐
15       pire which can by run at any time or any desired time interval by cron.
16       nfexpire  can  also  be safely run while nfcapd auto expires files, for
17       cleaning up full disks etc. nfexpire is sub directory hierarchy  aware,
18       and handles any format automatically.  For a fast and efficient expira‐
19       tion, nfexpire creates and maintains a stat file named .nfstat  in  the
20       data  directory.   Any directory supplied with the options below corre‐
21       sponds to the data directory supplied to nfcapd(1) using option -l.
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OPTIONS

25       -l directory
26          List current data statistics in directory datadir.
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28       -r directory
29          Rescan the specified directory to update the statfile.  To  be  used
30          only  when  explicit update is required. Usually nfexpire takes care
31          itself about rescanning, when needed.
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33       -e datadir
34          Expire files in the specified directory.  Expire  limits  are  taken
35          from statfile ( see -u ) or from supplied options -s -t and -w. Com‐
36          mand line options overwrite stat file values, however  the  statfile
37          limits are not changed.
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39       -s maxsize
40          Set size limit for the directory. The specified limit accepts values
41          such as 100M, 100MB 1G 1.5G etc. Accpeted size factors are K, KB, M,
42          MB, G, GB and T, TB.  If no factor is supplied bytes (B) is assumed.
43          A value of 0 disables the max size limit.
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45       -t maxlife_time
46          Sets the max life time for files  in  the  directory.  The  supplied
47          maxlife_time  accepts  values  such  as 31d, 240H 1.5d etc. Accpeted
48          time scales are w (weeks) d (days) H (hours). A value of 0  disables
49          the max lifetime limit. If no scale is given, H (hours) are assumed.
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51       -u datadir
52          Updates  the max size and lifetime limits, specified by -s -t and -w
53          and stores them  in  the  statfile  as  default  values.  A  running
54          nfcapd(1)  process  doing  auto  expiry  will  take these new values
55          starting with the next expiry  cycle.  Running  nfexpire  next  time
56          doing  file expiration will take these new limits unless -s -t or -w
57          are specified.
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59       -w watermark
60          Set the water mark in % for expiring data. If a limit is hit,  files
61          get  expired  down to this level in % of that limit. If not set, the
62          default is 95%.
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64       -h Print help text on stdout with all options and exit.
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66       -p Directories specified by -e, -l and -r are  interpreted  as  profile
67          directories. Only NfSen will need this option.
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69       -Y Print result in parseable format. Only NfSen will need this option.
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RETURN VALUE

72       Returns
73           0   No error.
74           255 Initialization failed.
75           250 Internal error.
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NOTES

78       There are two ways to expire files: nfcapd in auto-expire mode ( option
79       -e ) and nfexpire running by hand or periodically  as  cron  job.  Both
80       ways synchronize access to the files, therefore both ways can be run in
81       parallel if required.
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83       Expiring by nfcapd in auto-expire mode: option -e
84       If nfcapd is started with option -e, the auto-expire mode  is  enabled.
85       After  each  cycle ( typically 5min ) nfcapd expires files according to
86       the limits set with nfexpire using options -u -s -t  and  -w.  If  ini‐
87       tially no limits are set, no files get expired.
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89       Expiring by nfexpire
90       nfexpire can be run at any time to expire files. It automatically syncs
91       up with the files created by nfcapd in the mean  time  since  the  last
92       expire run, if a nfcapd collector process is running for that directory
93       in question and expires the files according the limits set.
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95       Limits
96       Files are expired according to two limits: maximum disk space  used  by
97       all files in the directory and maximum lifetime of data files, whatever
98       limit is reached first.  If one of the limit is hit the expire  process
99       will delete files down to the watermark of that limit.
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SEE ALSO

102       nfcapd(1)
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BUGS

105                                  2009-09-09                       nfexpire(1)
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