> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.exavault.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.exavault.com/administration/logging/deleting-old-activity.md).

# Deleting Old Activity

ExaVault stores Activity records in Elasticsearch and makes them searchable in the web interface. Removing old records can reduce the size of a large Elasticsearch dataset.

Deleting an audit index permanently removes all Activity records for that year. Back up the virtual machine before continuing if you may need those records later.

To interact with Elasticsearch, first connect to your appliance via SSH. Once connected, open a shell inside the Elasticsearch container:

```bash
sudo docker exec -it exavault_elasticsearch_1 bash
```

## Viewing Indexes

List the annual audit indexes:

```bash
curl -X GET "localhost:9200/_cat/indices/audit-*?v=true&s=index&pretty"
```

Audit indexes use the name `audit-YEAR`.

## Deleting Indexes

To delete an index, send an HTTP DELETE command to Elasticsearch with the name of the index:

```bash
curl -X DELETE "localhost:9200/audit-1990?pretty"
```

To delete more than one year, comma-separate the indexes. This deletes indexes 1990 and 1991:

```bash
curl -X DELETE "localhost:9200/audit-1990,audit-1991?pretty"
```