PurgeWorkflowData

Description

This operation is used to remove historic data from the Nintex Workflow database. Reasons that data may need to be removed include:

• Removing old data to decrease the size of the Nintex Workflow content databases.

• Removing data added during testing of a workflow.

The operation accepts a number of arguments to use in combination to build up a filter of which data to remove.  Before executing the operation, a summary of the selected filters will be displayed for confirmation. Only database entries matching all entered criteria will be purged.

Caution: Once data has been purged, it cannot be recovered without restoring a backed up version of the database.

Consequences

After this command has run, Nintex Workflow will no longer have any record that the affected workflows were executed. The affected workflow instances will:

• No longer be listed as having run on the ‘view workflow history’ page.

• No longer be able to have their graphical status of detailed history viewed.

• No longer affect statistics or reports.

• No longer appear in web parts.

• No longer have viewable tasks (the task item will exist, but clicking on it will receive and error about not being able to find the ID in the database).

• No longer be able to have history list items associated with them purged using the ‘PurgeHistoryListData’ command unless the–clearall switch is used.

SharePoint views, such as accessing the ‘workflows’ link of a list item, will still display the workflow.

Usage

NWAdmin.exe -o PurgeWorkflowData [-workflowName workflowName] [-state [All|Running|Completed|Cancelled|Error]] [-url teamsiteUrl [-listName listName]] [-siteCollectionUrl siteCollectionUrl] [-deletedLists] [-lastActivityBeforeUTC lastActivityBeforeDateUTC (" + DateFormat + ") | -lastActivityBeforeLocal lastActivityBeforeDateLocal (" + DateFormat + ")] [-listId listId] [-itemId itemId] [-instanceId workflowInstanceId] [-initiator loginname] [-timeout seconds] [-silent] [-purgeAll | -deletedSites]

Parameters

Name	Description
-workflowName	Remove historic data for workflows with this name.
-state	Remove historic data for workflows in a specific state.
-url	Remove historic data for workflows in a site.
-listName	Remove historic data for workflows associated with lists with this name.
-siteCollectionUrl	Remove historic data for workflows in a site collection.
-deletedLists	When specified, any historic data associated with a list or library that has been deleted will be removed. When the –url or –siteCollectionUrl parameter is specified, only workflow data from lists deleted from the URL site will be removed. When –url is not specified, the operation is global for all sites. If a site has been deleted, the list is also considered deleted and the workflow data will be purged.
-lastActivityBeforeUTC	Remove historic data for workflows where the last action was before a specific time, specified in UTC format. Viewing the usage in stsadm will display the expected format to specify the date.
-lastActivityBeforeLocal	Remove historic data for workflows where the last action was before a specific time, specified in server local time. Viewing the usage in stsadm will display the expected format to specify the date.
-listId	Remove historic data for workflows associated with a specific list that has this internal GUID.
-itemId	Remove historic data for workflows that have run on list items with this integer ID.
-instanceId	Remove historic data for a specific workflow instance where the instance ID matches this GUID.
-initiator	Remove historic data for workflows where this is the user who started the workflow.
-timeout	The number of seconds before the operations displays an error due to a time out. Default is 600. Purging a large number of items can take some time.
-silent	Specifies the command should run without prompting for confirmation.
-purgeAll	When specified, all historic workflow data will be removed. Used without any additional parameters.
-deletedSites	When specified, any historic workflow data associated with a site that has been deleted will be removed. Used without any additional parameters.
-batchSize	The number of workflow instances to purge in one SQL command.

Examples

Example 1

NWAdmin.exe -o Purgeworkflowdata -workflowName MyWorkflow -state Error -url http://sample.domain.com -siteCollectionURL http://sample.domain.com -databaseName MyworkflowDB-content

Example 2

NWAdmin.exe -o Purgeworkflowdata -workflowName "My Workflow" -state Error -url http://sample.domain.com -siteCollectionURL http://sample.domain.com -databaseName MyworkflowDB-content