dbdock cleanup

Apply your retention policy to remove old backups.

npx dbdock cleanup [options]

cleanup applies the retention policy from dbdock.config.json. It’s automatic (when runAfterBackup: true) and manual (via this command).

Options

Option	Description
--dry-run	Preview what would be deleted without deleting
--force	Skip the confirmation prompt

Interactive preview (default)

npx dbdock cleanup

Retention policy:
  • maxBackups: 100
  • maxAgeDays: 30
  • minBackups: 5

Analyzing backups...

Will delete 12 backup(s), reclaiming 542.1 MB:
  • backup-2025-10-01-... (45.2 MB) — 197 days old
  • backup-2025-10-02-... (45.1 MB) — 196 days old
  ...

? Proceed? (y/N)

Dry run

See what would happen without doing it:

npx dbdock cleanup --dry-run

Exits with code 0 if there’s nothing to delete, so it’s safe in CI.

Force (no prompt)

For automated cleanup in cron jobs:

npx dbdock cleanup --force

Combined with cron:

0 3 * * 0  npx dbdock cleanup --force  # Weekly on Sunday at 3am

Retention policy

Defined in dbdock.config.json:

{
  "backup": {
    "retention": {
      "enabled": true,
      "maxBackups": 100,
      "maxAgeDays": 30,
      "minBackups": 5,
      "runAfterBackup": true
    }
  }
}

Field	Description
maxBackups	Keep at most N backups. Oldest deleted first.
maxAgeDays	Delete anything older than N days.
minBackups	Safety net — never delete below this count, even if other rules say so.
runAfterBackup	Run cleanup automatically after each dbdock backup.

How the rules combine

1. Start with all backups
2. Sort by age, newest first
3. The most recent minBackups are untouchable
4. Of the rest, delete anything exceeding maxBackups or older than maxAgeDays

minBackups always wins. If you have 3 backups and minBackups: 5, cleanup deletes nothing.

Strategies

See Retention strategies for common policies (daily/weekly/monthly rotations, archival rules, etc.).