Analyzing retention policy trace telemetry

APPLIES TO: Business Central 2020 release wave 2, update 17.1 and later

Note

Azure Active Directory is now Microsoft Entra ID. Learn more

Administrators define retention policies to specify how frequently they want Business Central to delete outdated data in tables that contain log entries and archived records. For example, cleaning up log entries makes it easier to work with the data that's relevant. Policies can include all data in the tables that is past the expiration date. Or you can add filter criteria to include only certain expired data in the policy.

To gather this telemetry data, you have to set up retention policies on tables that contain log entries and archived records. For more information, see Define Retention Policies in the Application help.

Telemetry is then logged for the following operations:

  • A table is added to the list of allowed tables
  • An error occurs when adding a new retention policy
  • A retention policy is enabled
  • A retention policy is applied, either manually or automatically
  • Data is deleted because of a retention policy
  • The first retention policy is enabled on a table in a company
  • The last retention policy is removed in a company

Retention policy log entry logged

Occurs when a retention policy is enabled, applied, or disabled. It provides information about the different operations related to the retention policy. This information is similar to what you see in the Retention Policy Log page in the client.

General dimensions

Dimension Description or value
message Retention Policy Log Entry Logged: {alMessageType}
severityLevel 1 for error, 2 for warning, 3 for info
user_Id The user telemetry ID for the user. From the user card, you can use user_Id to identify the user who triggered this telemetry event. For more information, see Assign a telemetry ID to users.

Custom dimensions

Dimension Description or value
eventId AL0000D3L
alCategory Specifies the aspect of the retention policy that created the log entry. For example, it can be related to setup, the retention period, and when the policy was applied. Some of the values are: Retention Policy - Setup, Retention Policy - Apply, Retention Policy - Schedule, Retention Policy - Allowed Tables.
alCompanyName Specifies the Business Central company that the retention policy applies to.
alLogEntry Specifies message about the retention policy execution step, for example: Table 405 Change Log Entry was added to the list of allowed tables. Default Date Field No.: 2000000001
alMessageType Specifies the message type for the log entry:
  • Error - indicates an error occurred and the operation was unsuccessful
  • Warning - indicates that the operation succeeded but there's a warning
  • Info - indicates that the operation was successful.

Common custom dimensions

The following table explains other custom dimensions that are common to all retention policy traces.

Dimension Description or value
aadTenantId Specifies the Microsoft Entra tenant ID used for Microsoft Entra authentication. For on-premises, if you aren't using Microsoft Entra authentication, this value is common.
component Dynamics 365 Business Central Server.
componentVersion Specifies the version number of the component that emits telemetry (see the component dimension.)
environmentName Specifies the name of the tenant environment. See Managing Environments. This dimension isn't included for Business Central on-premises environments.
alDataClassification SystemMetadata
alObjectId 3912, which is the ID of the Reten. Policy Telemetry Imp. codeunit.
alObjectName Reten. Policy Telemetry Impl.
alObjectType Codeunit
extensionId Specifies the ID of the system application: 63ca2fa4-4f03-4f2b-a480-172fef340d3f.
extensionName System Application
extensionVersion Specifies the version of the system application.
environmentType Specifies the environment type for the tenant, such as Production, Sandbox, Trial. See Environment Types
telemetrySchemaVersion Specifies the version of the Business Central telemetry schema.

Records deleted using retention policy

Occurs when a record is deleted by a retention policy.

General dimensions

Dimension Description or value
message Records Deleted Using Retention Policy: Deleted {alRecordsDeleted} records from Table {alTableNo}, {alTableName}
severityLevel 1
user_Id The user telemetry ID for the user. From the user card, you can use user_Id to identify the user who triggered this telemetry event. For more information, see Assign a telemetry ID to users.

Custom dimensions

Dimension Description or value
eventId AL0000D6H
alCompanyName Specifies the Business Central company that the retention policy applies to.
alManualRun Specifies whether the retention policy was run manually, true, or automatically by a job queue entry, false.
alRecordsDeleted Specifies the number of records that were deleted by the retention policy.
alTableName Specifies the name of the table from which the records were deleted.
alTableNo Specifies the ID of the table from which the records were deleted.
See common custom dimensions

First retention policy enabled on company

Occurs when the first retention policy is enabled in a company.

General dimensions

Dimension Description or value
message First retention policy enabled on: {alCompanyName}
severityLevel 1
user_Id The user telemetry ID for the user. From the user card, you can use user_Id to identify the user who triggered this telemetry event. For more information, see Assign a telemetry ID to users.

Custom dimensions

Dimension Description or value
eventId AL0000D6I
alCompanyName Specifies the Business Central company that the retention policy applies to.
alTableName Specifies the name of the table the retention policy was enabled on.
alTableNo Specifies the ID of the table that the retention policy was enabled on.
See common custom dimensions

Last retention policy disabled on company

Occurs when the last retention policy is disabled in a company.

General dimensions

Dimension Description or value
message Last retention policy disabled on: {alCompanyName}
severityLevel 1
user_Id The user telemetry ID for the user. From the user card, you can use user_Id to identify the user who triggered this telemetry event. For more information, see Assign a telemetry ID to users.

Custom dimensions

Dimension Description or value
eventId AL0000D6J
alCompanyName Specifies the Business Central company that the retention policy applies to.
alTableName Specifies the name of the table from which the records were deleted.
alTableNo Specifies the ID of the table from which the records were deleted.
See common custom dimensions

See also

Monitoring and Analyzing Telemetry
Enable Sending Telemetry to Application Insights