FLOW-EXPIRE(1)

✨ FLOW-EXPIRE(1) ✨

okay bestie, pull up a chair 💖 this is flow-expire, part of the flow-tools era, and she's here to Manage storage of flow file archives by expiring old data. yes that's the whole NAME, and yes it's giving "Marie Kondo but for netflow files" 🎀

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

flow-expire [ -h ]  [ -d debug_level ]  [ -e expire_count ]  [ -E
expire_size ]  -w workdir

like, the -w workdir is not optional, she needs to know WHERE to do the thing 🫶

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so basically, the flow-expire utility removes the oldest flow files in a directory. and it decides who gets the boot based on either a count of files or space utilization — your pick, your rules 💅

the directory gets recursively searched for flow files, because she's thorough like that. files that do not have a flow-tools signature will be ignored — she's not out here deleting your random stuff, no cap 🙈

here's the iconic part: the internal timestamp is used, so backups or copies of the flow files that don't retain the original timestamp will not impact the operation of flow-expire. that's right, she reads the vibe inside the file, not whatever your filesystem clock is doing ✨

and where does this whole thing live? flow-expire is typically used to manage storage in a distributed environment where flows are collected on a different server than they are archived. classic main character setup, honestly 👑

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💖 OPTIONS 💖

• -d debug_level — Enable debugging. she'll tell you what she's thinking, very group-chat of her 🗣️
• -e expire_count — Retain the maximum number of files so that the total file count is less than expire_count. so like, keep the newest ones until you're under the number 🎀
• -E expire_size — Retain the maximum number of files so that the total storage is less than expire_size. and the letters b, K, M, G can be used as multipliers, ie 16 Megabytes is 16M. use the multipliers bestie, don't make her read raw bytes 😭
• -h — Display help. the "help me help you" button 🫶
• -w workdir — Work in workdir. this one's mandatory, she has no default home 🏠

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🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

1. Remove the oldest flow files in /flows/krc4 until the total storage is less then 2 Gigabytes.

flow-expire -E2Gig -w /flows/krc4

2. Remove the oldest flow files in /flows/krc4 until the total number of files is less then 100.

flow-expire -e100 -w /flows/krc4

see? -E for space, -e for count, and workdir always tagging along at the end 💫

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💀 BUGS 💀

• Empty directories are not removed. yeah. she'll empty your folders but she will NOT take out the trash can itself. directories stay. periodt 😤

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

Mark Fullmer <maf@splintered.net> — the icon, the legend, the one who made this whole thing happen ⭐

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

• flow-tools(1) — go read the family lore, iykyk 💜

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and that's the whole page bestie!! this version of the manual is from 26 Август 2010, and it's the FLOW-EXPIRE(1) page 🎀 so go forth, expire those old flows, and keep your storage looking snatched ✨💅🦋 no cap, you got this 🌸🫶