Backing up blob storage with vaulted backup only (NO operational backup) - can I set blob versions to expire?

Question

I have enabled Azure Backup for my storage account. The policy ONLY includes vaulted backup (I have disabled operational backup). This automatically checks the two checkboxes: "Enable versioning for blobs" and "Enable blob change feed". By default, both of these are set to "keep all logs" and "keep all versions" respectively.

I understand from the articles these two features must be enabled when using Azure Backup. Fine. But my question is whether I can set the logs and versions to expire?

In my specific case, the policy is: weekly vaulted backups retained for 6 months.

Can I set blob versioning and blob change feed data to expire after, say, 7 days? It's my impression that they are only required in the moment of replication, and NOT required when restoring.

I've looked at the following articles, but they don't provide an answer (they just say that you must enable versioning and change feed - not for how long to keep the versions/logs).

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/blob-backup-configure-tutorial

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/blob-backup-overview?tabs=operational-backup

(The QA assist feature does not answer the question either)

Answer 1

Hi @Lasse A
Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A Platform! Thank you for asking your question here.  It seems that there is no option to set the logs and versions to expire for blob versioning and blob change feed data. These features are required for Azure Backup to function properly and ensure data consistency. However, you can control the retention period for the backups themselves by setting the retention period in the backup policy. In your specific case, you have set the retention period to 6 months for weekly vaulted backups. 

It's important to note that blob versioning and blob change feed data are not required when restoring, but they are required for replication and ensuring data consistency. Therefore, it's recommended to keep these features enabled for the duration of the retention period set in the backup policy.
If you have any issue, please go through this link: - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/blobs/storage-blob-change-feed?tabs=azure-portal
If you have any further queries, do let us know  

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