My POD is on since 2013 and the server is running out of space.
I want to delete old messages and files to make room for another couple of years =)
May you help me out how to do it?
Thanks
Come on… please guys?
How to perform a clean of oldest messages?
There is no real built-in way to do that. The only exception is a built-in feature that allows pods to delete inactive user accounts and their associated data - search for remove_old_users in your configuration file for details.
You can delete your own old posts by deleting them in the frontend, or by using the API to mass-delete your own stuff. But that will … actually delete it globally. There is no way to “remove” a post from your database without deleting it globally, as that would completely orphan the post and you’d not get any notifications for reactons/comments on other pods on that post, and you’d also lose your ability to actually moderate reactions and delete the post.
Likewise, you cannot delete files from the uploads directory: the files that are still there are in active use. diaspora* doesn’t distribute image files, so other pods will load the images in your user’s post from your severs. Deleting the files would leave broken images everywhere in the network.
Hello Dennis,
Thank you very much for answer me.
This is pretty serious, I mean, how to expect we’ll keep growing and needing mor and more space forever?
I thought there was a safe/clean way to do it.
I understand that delete messages are going to delete it globally but that’s something I’ll have to do do or the server will get out of space.
So my questions remain: as podmin what is the very best way to delete old messages and files/images?
Well, yes? As more content accumulates over time, the disk space used by all content grows.
The majority of disk space is caused by your users uploading media. On my pod, Geraspora - which given its size and age receives most of the content posted in all of the network - the uploads folder is more than 20 times larger than the total database size, even though the uploads folder only contains data from my users, while the database contains information for the entire network.
If you want to run a pod on as little disk space as possible, then you have to run a pod only for you, and never upload any media. If you allow other users to use your pod, then they’ll use your pod. Diaspora* will not delete old contents, because that would kinda violate the trust users place in a pod - users expect content they create to stay on the internet as long as they want it. If you’re not willing or able to host other people and their data, then diaspora* allows you to disable public registrations.
Even if diaspora* would have a feature that would automatically delete old posts from external users, that will only save you a minuscule amount of disk space. Your users are the one using disk space, and I think it’s unlikely that diaspora* will ever officially support deleting old content from still-active users. As a user, I’d be exceptionally angry at my podmin if they’d be able to just remove my content from the internet.
Understood Dennis… once again thank you for your time and effort to explain it. Very kind of you.
Regards