Purge a fylr instance

For a migration or during testing, you might want to overwrite one fylr instance with data from another fylr or easydb, or just wipe a fylr installation to a clean state.

As purging is a destructive intervention, many safety barriers have to be turned off before the purge can be done. These barriers protect data and assets in a productive fylr from being deleted.

What a purge does

• replace the SQL database with a fresh one, erasing the data model, data, rights management

• reset configuration that was done in the web frontend ("Base Configuration" etc.) to defaults or to the settings done in fylr.yml

• optionally, throw away all assets (and of course preview versions generated from them), if Allow Purge is chosen in the location manager. In the location manager Allow Purge is per location.

• after the purge, fylr uses other sub-directories inside your storage locations. Example:

• before purge: /srv/fylr-7efd8b2b-afda-499a-b1e1-b90f6a5f426a

• after purge: /srv/fylr-e66a5fe2-05f4-4c99-a5c9-3f93e57405f5

What a purge does not:

• change the configuration that is done in the configuration file fylr.yml

• if you do not allow purging of storage, your assets and preview version will remain on disk but are not used any more by fylr

Allow purge

1. Make sure you have in your fylr.yml: allowpurge: true. Example:

fylr+:
  allowpurge: true

[...the rest of the file is omitted here...]

2. Allow purge in the fylr frontend, if not already set: Navigation bar - Cogwheels/Administration - Base Configuration - Development - Purge:

the lower checkbox is optional, depending on whether you want to preserve the stored files

3. If you want to purge storage: Allow per location: Navigation bar - Cogwheels/Administration - Location Manager: Allow Purge for those locations that you want to purge

Start the purge

1. Surf to the inspect Web Frontend of fylr, by entering the URL of your fylr an adding /inspect/.

So if your fylr is available at https://fylr.example.com then surf to https://fylr.example.com/inspect/.

2. Click System and there click the Purge... button: (at the bottom)

The inspect web frontend at /inspect/system/