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Question

Impact on Copies When Deleting a Plan

  • August 7, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 37 views
B
Commvault Certified Expert
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  • BSircyCommvault Certified Expert
  • Commvault Certified Expert

I wanted to verify what happens to additional copies’ backups when a Plan is deleted? I would assume that it would be similar to a Storage Policy in that when a Storage Policy is deleted, all backup jobs under all the copies are aged and the Storage Policy and all copies are deleted.

I have doubt due to a customer’s environment where a Plan no longer exists (I would assume it was deleted) but the corresponding Storage Policy still exists in the Java Console, albeit with Primary Copy being one of the original Secondary Copies to the cloud, and the original Primary Copy to disk deleted. All the jobs within the remaining copies have aged at this point; the Storage Policy itself still exists, but the Plan is gone. If all copies are deleted when the Plan is deleted, I’m unsure how this is possible.

They’re trying to retire a MediaAgent from their environment and have created a new Plan to use with the new MediaAgent as they have a 1:1 relationship with their business unit’s data and a MediaAgent + library combo. Are they safe to delete the existing Plan once the Primary Copy of the data has met its’ retention or do they need to wait for all copies of the data to meet their retention ie 6 months from now?

Thanks in advance.

2 replies

D
Vaulter
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Hi ​@BSircy ,


When a Plan is deleted in Commvault, it does not behave the same as deleting a Storage Policy directly. A Plan is simply a management layer that sits above the Storage Policy and Copy Policies.

Deleting a Plan does not delete the underlying Storage Policy or its copies. These remain in place and continue to retain data as per the configured retention settings.

The Storage Policy becomes orphaned, meaning it is no longer associated with a Plan, but it still functions.

Data aging continues normally on all copies (Primary or Secondary) based on their retention rules.

The Plan will no longer appear in the Command Center or be assignable to clients, but historical jobs tied to the Storage Policy will still be referenced until aged out.

In your cases, one of the Secondary Copies to Cloud was promoted to Primary and the original Primary Copy to disk was deleted.

Deleting the Plan will not cause immediate data loss, but you will lose the UI-based management visibility of retention settings. If any copy still contains data under retention, it is recommended to wait before deleting the Plan or Storage Policy, especially if data must be retained (e.g., for 6 more months).

Since a new Plan has been created for the new MediaAgent, the existing Plan can be deleted once all associated data copies (Primary and Secondary) have met their configured retention, or if the data is no longer required.

To avoid any risk of data loss, it’s recommended to retain the Plan or at least the underlying Storage Policy and Copy Policies, until all jobs under those copies have aged out according to their retention settings. Hope this explanation helps. Thank You!

 

Regards,

Dheeraj

B
Commvault Certified Expert
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  • BSircyCommvault Certified Expert
  • Author
  • Commvault Certified Expert
  • August 8, 2025

Hi ​@Dheeraj Shetty 

I appreciate the thorough response. Your explanation makes sense outside of one piece. Documentation states “When you delete a server plan in the Command Center, the associated server plan subclient policies, schedule policies, and storage policies in the CommCell Console are also deleted.” This wouldn’t be the first time that BOL is incorrect, I just wanted to point that piece out as it contradicts what you are stating. 

However, I am in agreement that best practice would be to hold the Plan until all Plan copies meet their retention and age out.

Thanks,

Brett

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